The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-08-28
FORTY CHEROKEES.
Representatives of the People
That Used to Own Georgia.
Indian Customs, Religion and Languages
They Are Paid to Go to school
Women Do the Work.

Women DO the Work.
The largest band of real Indians seen in
! Georgia in 20 years reached Atlanta Wednes-
day afternoon at $50.
Forty-Gve in all.
They came from Murphy. in southwestern
| North Carolina, over the Western and Atlantic
and fturious sight they presented as they dis
embarked at the union depot. Their coming
was not generally known, but as the first brave
leaped from the platform to the ground a yell
went up from negro newsboy.
ooh, Lordy! Here's er Injun, boys"
And in two minutes the entrance to the
depot and the sidewalks around were packed
as they haven't been since Cleveland came.
Picturesque-why, they were real Indians.
OF course they were picturesque. Each wore
red handkerchief in turban fashion about
his head, red shirt, red or blue trousers,
and carried in one hand couple of racquet
shaped bats Here and there an enterpris-
ing brave had fixed few feathers in his tur-
ban, and about half Of them had a figure in
red paint on the cheek or forehead
No shoes, no coat, no vest.
The squaws, of whom there are fourteen,
wore nothing but calico dresses, with plain
waistband, and no attempt at ornament. Most
Of them carried bundles.
They were carried in street cars direct to the
| Athletic park, sleeping last night upon the
! benches or floor of the grand stand, and as
! soundly and comfortably as if they had been
quartcred at the Kimball.
They must be used TO bare floors and moon
light.
THE Indians left Murphy this morning."
| said Mr. King, one of the managers, land ]
/ believe that If you could talk Cherokee to that
| squaw there, you would become satisfied that
they enjoyed the trip Immensely"
'She doesn't look like she was in good
humor."
ooh, yes she does. She's as happy now as
! she will ever be-"
"What Indians are these? ?"
THE old Cherokees. When the old ma
ton was driven from Georgia, Tennessee, and
the corners of North and South Carolina,
! six or seven thousand refused to go, and the
matter was settled by giving them a home in
the southwestern corner of North Carolina.
They own 1900 to 100000 acres in Swain,
Jackson, Graham and Cherokee counties, COM
| prised in what they call the quala-Quala lines.
| That was formally surrendered to them by the
new Echota treaty, about 1887, and there they
| have remained to this day."
| 'Do they change much? '
'Not much. Until five years ago they were
! the Cherokees of two hundred possibly of two
| thousand, years ago. But of Hate schools and
churches have been built amongst them, and
! change was inevitable"
"How many are there?'
about three thousand. They are in
| mountainous country and most of them live
wild lives. If an Indian family is large, say
| six or seven in all, they cultivate an acre and
half or two acres. If the family is small
! the farm is small in proportion. OF course
| that takes very little of their time, and the
women do about all that is done. In the fall
and winter thoy hunt and fish. Then they
| have five towns Soko, Birdtown, Yellow Hill,
| Big Cave and Cheoah. Yellow Hill is the
| capital. In town. of course, they put on con-
siderable style-have floors to their huts and
make the dogs sleep out doors'
| "What sort of government?'
"They are under the laws of North Caro-
| lima, but are allowed great freedom in their
local government. Every four years they elect
chief. Then they have council, member
! from each of the five districts, and they are
the chiefs cabinet The present chief is Jar
| rett Smith, one-eighth white, and the hand
soonest brave among the Cherokees. Most of
his time is spent in Washington, where he
| represents his nation pretty much as q con-
| gresham would his district
LAND IN COMMON.
1.-THE land is held in common. An indian is
| privileged to move upon any unsettled land,
| but must pay state taxes upon what they claim.
! They transmit from generation to generation
| the right to hold certain lands just as if the
| family owned it. or the present owner can sell
! his right of possession TO an Indian, though
| never to a white man. They refer disputes
to the acknowledged head man of the
| settlement, generally one of the members
of council, and faithfully abide by his decision.
| If you went to n village and wanted to make a
| trade OIL some KIM, ana the mead man was
| gone, you couldn't coax them into a trade.
| Go to the Bird country, for example, when old
| Jim Kegg was gone, and you might as well
| try TO trade with the chestnut stumps. When
! Old Chiltoski corn tasseD leaves his town bus
| mess stops 50 far white people are con-
| cened. They are naturally distrustful of
| whites
''In the same way, when crowd of them
| who can speak broken English wish to talk to
| the whites, they select the Indian that SPEAKS
the purest English and he talks for all. 1t is
| naturally diSagreeable to them to speak Eng
| fish, so when they bring chesnuts, or baskets
anything like that, they bring squaw along
and make her do the talking. All the disa-
greeablo work is put upon the women"
| els there any great advancement since the
schools and churches came?"
! "No. The young bucks are in clined to be
lazier even than the old, and are not so fond of
the old customs and traditions. The older
men cling reyerently TO the fashions of their
fathers. There are more church members of
course, but that don't amount to row of pins.
| Possibly one-third of the entire people belong
to some church, Missionary Baptist, Quaker or
Methodist. 1t is mere matter of form. They
| attend church more regularly than the people
in Atlanta do, but they are fearful
hypocrites. There's old Peckerwood, for ex-
ample, the meaneSt Indian among them, but
the most dcvout Quaker you ever saw. The
other two-thirds simply have no religion.
"There were no Quakers until three years OF
so ago when Quaker took charge of the
schools"
"What about the schools?"
"There is one in each town, and in Yellow
Hill there is a very good industrial school. The
schools are kept up by the government
| let out bv contract to the lowest bidder