Five Civilized Tribes
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Texas Cherokee Chiefs
by William D. Welge For nearly twenty years certain groups of Cherokees split off from the western band due to the ever increasing number of white settlers encroaching upon lands set aside for the tribe by the federal government. However, the government didn’t abide by it’s commitment to remove the white intruders as specified by treaty. Consequently, individuals such as The Bowl and Richard Fields gathered up several groups of like-minded tribal members and moved south of the Red River in to Spanish Texas. As early as 1807, a small party of Cherokees visited Texas with the prospect of possibly relocating there. (See: The Texas Cherokees: A People Between Two…
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Cherokee Chiefs Part I & II
Part I Cherokee Leaders 1760-1838 Before embarking upon aspects of the various factions or divisions within the Cherokee Nation, there are several tribal leaders that play key roles in the defense of their nation in the east and those who saw the floodtide of white encroachment, removed west of the Mississippi River to live their lives in peace, at least they hoped they would. Before America, the Cherokees interacted with Europeans, primarily from Great Britian. In 1730, the British were north of the Cherokee Nation east, but were making forays into the domain. To the south was the Muscogee or Creeks in Georgia and Alabama. Farther south was Spanish held…
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A Prelude to Removal / Cherokee Nation
Throughout the 18th century the Cherokee Nation was under assault whether it was with the British or later the up start American’s. At one time before 1730, the lands claimed by this powerful tribal nation included most of what is now Virginia, parts of Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and parts of Georgia. By 1768 and then again in 1770, their vast domain was reduced primarily to set a boundary whereby white settlers would not cross into lands held by the Cherokees. With these two treaties, tribal leaders such as Oconostota and Attakullakulla signed their names ceded all claims to lands in Virginia. The rationale for this was…
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History of the Cherokee Morning Song
Cherokee Morning Song Arranged by Rita Coolidge and Robbie Robertson. Album: Music for the Native Americans
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Henry L. Dawes
by William Welge, Oklahoma Historian & Author When the name Henry L. Dawes comes up few know much about him except for the hundreds of thousands of American Indians whose lives were forever changed by this man. Born in Cummington, Massachusetts October 30, 1816, Dawes was well educated. He practiced law and was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. After serving as U.S. Attorney for a period of time, Dawes was elected to Congress in 1857 and continued to serve in Congress until 1875 at which time he was elected to the United States Senate. In 1887, Senator Dawes authored the landmark (pun intended) legislation of allotment to Indians…