What was life like for children in the Cherokee tribe?

The Cherokees had little time to gather their belongings before being herded into camps. From there, 13,000 were forced on the thousand-mile journey to Oklahoma. They had little food and no shelter from the weather. Many–especially children–grew sick and died.

What was the Cherokee tribe known for?

After 1800 the Cherokee were remarkable for their assimilation of American settler culture. The tribe formed a government modeled on that of the United States. Under Chief Junaluska they aided Andrew Jackson against the Creek in the Creek War, particularly in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

What kind of food did the Cherokee tribe eat?

People who lived in the Cherokee nation were mostly farmers. They ate mainly corn and beans and squash (the “Three Sisters“) that they grew in their fields.

What games did Cherokee children play?

The Cherokee Indians refer to stickball games as “the little brother of war.” Children played most of the same games as adults. In addition, they enjoyed races, tug-of-war, hide and seek, and blind man’s bluff types of games.

What did Cherokee Indian children do?

They do the same things all children do–play with each other, go to school and help around the house. Many Cherokee children enjoy hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Cherokee kids had more chores and less time to play, just like colonial children. But they did have dolls, toys, and games to play.

How did the Cherokee discipline their children?

Punishment usually involved teasing and shame in front of the rest of the tribe. At the same time, children who obeyed were praised and honored in front the tribe.

What is important in Cherokee culture?

Cherokee culture is based on seeking balance in the world and embracing harmony. Being in balance means being responsible for one’s actions and remembering the good of the whole-the family, the tribe, and the earth. Cherokee music originally was used for dancing, welcoming visitors, courting, and ceremonies.

What do the Cherokee believe in?

Today the majority of Cherokees practice some denomination of Christianity, with Baptist and Methodist the most common. However, a significant number of Cherokees still observe and practice older traditions, meeting at stomp grounds in local communities to hold stomp dances and other ceremonies.

What did the Cherokee do for fun?

But they did have dolls, toys, and games to play, such as one game where kids tried to throw a dart through a moving hoop. Lacrosse was a popular sport among Cherokee teenagers. Cherokee men wore breechcloths and leggings. Cherokee women wore wraparound skirts made out of woven fiber or deerskin.

What kind of house did the Cherokee live in?

The Cherokee never lived in tipis. Only the nomadic Plains Indians did so. The Cherokee were southeastern woodland Indians, and in the winter they lived in houses made of woven saplings, plastered with mud and roofed with poplar bark. In the summer they lived in open-air dwellings roofed with bark.

What are some Cherokee traditions?

Today, the Eastern Cherokee maintain traditions of music, storytelling, dance, foodways, carving, basket-making, headwork, pottery, blowgun-making, flint-knapping, and more. Their language, which was forbidden by the federal schools for more than half a century, is being revived in classrooms and the community.