Over the centuries, since the Cherokee people’s first contact with Europeans, there have been many attempts to preserve the pre-Columbian culture. It seems that the more passionate attempts met with the most tragic demise while the more casual and indirect acquaintances have survived. I point to the encounters and reports by European adventurers, traders, priests or ethnographers whose works, notes, and books have successfully preserved hints of the culture, albeit from a f

The treaty of 1721 [refer to part 1: Preserving the Culture: Introduction] between the Cherokee and the British, marked the beginning of the European influence on the Cherokee Culture and the first real challenge to the preservation of the Cherokee culture. This treaty not only introduced new concepts (“boundaries”, “treaties”, “government agents”) but also established an exclusive relationship with the English. Fort Toulouse Seven years previous, the French had built Fort

In ancient times, the Cherokee culture was preserved and passed on to each generation through ceremony and oral stories. It was an informal process that incorporated changes slowly and naturally over the ages. Cultures change as new generations bring new ideas and new interpretations to old traditions. Cultures are influenced by their neighbors, by changing climate, by changing food sources, by war, and by changing political influences. Today, we have but hints and whisper