Traditional lands and Reservation
When first contacted by Europeans, “the Nation held dominion over a sprawling territory comprised of much or most of the modern states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.” A forced removal, the “Trail of Tears” relocated them to what is now a 14-county reservation in Oklahoma, with many At Large tribal members located all over the world.
Languages
Tsalagi (Cherokee) is the traditional language of the Cherokee Nation. Fluent speakers are dwindling and the tribe is making massive efforts to ensure that the next generations will be able to speak the language that expresses so much in a way that English does not capture.
Tsalagi has a written form that is based on a syllabary rather than an alphabet. Each spoken syllable in the language is represented by one of 85 distinct characters.