Matthew Lee Barnes

Cherokee Indians

Where did they live? They lived in north Alabama, most of Tennessee, west South Carolina, west North Carolina, and Kentucky.

Food/hunting They hunted deer, bear, and elk. They grew corn, beans, and squash.

Shelter They lived in log cabins with roofs made of bark.

government They formed a government based on the United States.

Religion Indians believed there were gods and spirits all around them. The sun was the main god. As a symbol of the Sun, they kept a sacred fire burning.

Rituals/Ceremonies The medicine man of a village usually led the Indian’s ceremonies. There was a ceremony before each hunt began. They held a ceremony when it was time to plant and when crops were harvested. There were special ceremonies before a battle or when rain was needed. Singing, beating drums, and dancing were usually parts of these ceremonies.

Unique facts One famous Cherokee was Sequoyah he saw that the white men could send news on paper he called “Talking leaves” He spent twelve years on a new alphabet. The alphabet was finished in 1819 and they made newspapers of there own one was named “Cherokee Phoenix.”