Cherokee Indians

              From: Lanman, Adventures in the Wilds of America ( 1856)
THE CHEROKEE INDIANS
Qualla Town is a name applied to a tract of seventy- two thousand acres of land in
Haywood county, which is occupied by about eight hundred Cherokee Indians, and one
hundred Catawbas. Their district is mountainous from one extremity to the other, and
watered by a number of beautiful streams, which abound in fish ; the valleys and slopes
are quite fertile and the lower mountains are well adapted to grazing, and at the same time
are heavily timbered and supplied with every variety of game. This portion of a much
larger multitude of aborigines, in consideration of their rank and age, and of valu- able
services rendered to the United States, were permitted by the General Government to
remain upon their native soil, while the great body of the Cherokee nation were driven
into exile. They ( the exiles) amounted in all to more than sixteen thou- sand souls,
eighteen hundred and fifty having died on their way to the “ promised land’’ beyond the
Mississippi. And here it may with propriety be added, that since the removal, those in the
West have gradually decreased in numbers, while the remaining portion have steadily
increased by births at the rate of four per cent. per annum. In addition to the Indians above
mentioned, it ought to be stated that there is a remnant of two hundred still remainm g in
the county of Cherokee; of whom, however, I know but little, and therefore purpose to
confine my remarks to those of Qualla Town alone.
The Indians of this district having formed themselves into a regular company, with
appropriate regulations, they elected an old friend of theirs, named WILLIAM H.
THOMAS, ( mentioned in my last letter,) to become their business chief, so that the
connection now existing between the two parties is that of father and children What the
result of this arrangement has been will be fully understood when I come to speak of the
advance which the Indians have made in the march of civilization. As
they are organized at the present time, the Qualla Town people are divided into seven
clans, and to each clan is assigned what
is called a town, over each of which presides a regular chief. The Cherokee nation was
originally divided into seven clans, which were probably descended from certain noted
families, and the old party feeling is still preserved with jealous care among their
descendants in this vicinity. The names of the clans are In- e- chees- quah, or Bird Clan ;
In- egil- lohee, or Pretty- faced Clan; In- e- wo- tah, or Paint Clan ; In- e- wah- he- yah, or Wolf
Clan; In- e- se- ho- nih, or Blue Clan; In- e- co- wih, or Deer Clan; and In- e- eo- te- ca- wih, the
meaning of which is not known. And among the customs which prevail among these
clans, is one which prevents their marrying among themselves, so that they have to select
their wives from a neighboring fra- ternity. Formerly such marriages were prohibited by
penalty of death.
With regard to the extent of their civilization and their existing manner of life, the
following may be looked upon as a com- prehensive summary: About three- fourths of the
entire population can read in their own language, and, though the majority of them
understand English, a very few can speak the language. They practice, to a considerable