Evening star., 1893-09-09
EASTERN CHEROKEES
An Indian Band About Whom Little is
Known.
Description of an Interesting People
i'm the Mountains of Western
North Carolina.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

the Eastern Band" Of the Cherokee nation.
The history Of the reservation is a strange
one. When the Indians in North Carolina
were removed by the government to the
indian territory by far the greater part of
the Cherokees left their old homes forever
But strong band retained lands in three
or the western counties, in what was then al
most a wilderness. A great tract Of land
was set apart as reservation by the state,
and voluninous laws governing these Cher
okee lands were enacted. For three score
years or more these Cherokee land laws"
formed large part of the various codes,
etc. and only recently have been dropped
from the pages of such publications. They
form curious reading in their effort to mix
American law with Indian ideas. customs
and rules as to land tenure. Originally the
tract OF land held by the Cherokees was far
larger than at present. 1t now comprises
1900 acres, and some Of it is the very best
land in western North Carolina 1t is
mainly in Swain and jackson counties,
right among the mountains, and the entire
country east of the Mississippi does not con-
tain more picturesquely beautiful region
or one better suited to Indian tastes and re-
Quirements. with its cold. clear streams
full of fish, its mountains. well wooded and
aboundinS in game, and it's comparative
remoteness from the beaten track Of white
people.
Where the Wolf Can BE Seen.
The wolf is yet a rover in this section
and there is a county bounty for his scalp,
not only in the counties above named, but
in several others. The bear is more abund-
ant than anywhere else save in the great
swamps near the coast Of the state. Deer
are also abundant and the pheasant or
partridge is found, though long since gone
from other parts OF the state.
The eastern band of Cherokees are an
interesting race of people. The Western
North Carolina railway passes within ten
mi Of hair g RrySOn
ing the nearest railway station.
At yellow Hill.
The chief Cherokee town Is known in
English as Yellow Hill.
1t is a rambling place. through which
rushes a bold mountain stream. the Ocona
Lufty. The Indian houses are nearly all
alike in design. They are built Of logs.
well fitted. with a porch on one side. They
are built to stand the cold. which is great
there sometimes So high is the altitude
and so encircled by mountains is the reser-
walton that there is no hot weather. The
Indians are mainly engaged in farming,
but do not do an extensive business in this
direction, though they raise plenty for food.
The late chief of this eastern band was
Nimrod J. Smith, whose Cherokee name
was Tsa-la-ta-be. He was tall, superbly
formed man. and in face ana figure and
manner of wearing the hair was remark
ably like the wel-known Buffalo Bill"
In 1850 he became chief anf died In lss2.
His successor is Stillwell Sounookc who
cannot speak English. Chief Smith was
well educated and a fine talker. His son,
Richard. is now the head of the family
and Is well Informed regarding his people.
The life of his family differs but little
from that of white people They speak
English all the time save when conversing
with other Indians. Chief Smith was a
half breed. but Sounooke is a full blood.
His wife is the same. Smiths wife Is white.
The present number of the eastern band
is about 1.6o0. and II is certain that there
Is an increase. The healthfulness Of that
region is remarkable and many Of the
Cherokees reach a great age. The Oldest
inhabitant is big Witch" who asserts
that his age is one hundred and fifteen
years. A recent visitor, who talked with
this venerable Indian on Sunday found
him making moccasins out of the skin of
grounding.
Citizenship of the Cherokees.
The Cherokees vote and are on the same
footing as other citizens of the state. Dur
ing the late war their chief was a strong
believer in the confederate states and
fine battalion or legion was raised. This
was commanded by Col. Thomas, who years
later died in an insane asylum, and it did
effective service, being known as the
Thomas Letion."
The chief ainusements are the Indian ball
game really lacrosse). and the fact that
generally at the state fairs and expositions
they play this game has afforded practi-
calIy the only opportunity ninety-nine- hun
dredths of the people of the state have had
of seeing these interesting folk from the
Indians daub themselves literally with
paint or the gayest colors and attired only
in a breech clout engage with zest In their
favorite sport which is fully as rough
foot ball
Fully one-third OF the eastern band are
church Observation-Disclosures and Baptists
principally. There are seven Indian preach
ers. They have the Bible in Cherokee The
government por hos
Indians, the teachers in all these being
whites These schools are located at Yellow
Hin. Bird Town, Big Cove and Macedonia
At Yellow Hill eighty students are allowed
each of whom receives 800 annually This
is high school, the three others being
somewhat like the ordinary public schools
In the country districts, and the pupils
living at home and going to school during
the day. The pupils at the Yellow Hill
school board there. Andrew Spencer is
the Indian agent. and Yellow Hill is his
headquarters. There also is the council
house of the tribe. quite a large wooden
structure.
Efforts to Educate Them,
Earnest efforts are being made to educate
these Indians. Those educated are very
intelligent, speak English we'll and are
fond of white people, and do them favors
Many OF the Cherokees, however. do not
speak English at all. and are as wild in
appearance as any Indians in the far west
There is some intermarriage with the
whites. Hunting is, as of old the favorite
pursuit. The smaller kinds of Came are
not ignored. The rifle is the usual weapon
but the bow and arrow and the blow yun
are used. Some are very expert with these
primitive weapons. The blow guns are nine
or ten feet long and are made of a kind of
reed, with a bore or diameter of about half
an inch.
Persons east of the Mississpp, river are
accustomed to speak of Indians as quite
far away, yet here is a large tribe living
within say twenty-four hours travel of
washington. In few ways could a week he
spent more pleasantly than in a visit to the
Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation" in
the North Carolina mountains
Avoiding Military Duty in France.
From the London Daily News.
Public opinion has been called in France
to scandals in connection with army re-
cruiting which show how difficult II is to
carry out a scheme OF universal compul-
sorry service. As matter of fact II is we'll
known that, in order to prevent the burden
of the system falling with undue weight
upon certain individuals, numerous exemn-
tions have to be made. The only son of a
widow, for instance, who helps to supnort
his mother, is let off scot free: while the
eldest son of man upward of seventy
years of age is only made to serve for one
year II 1t can be proved that the father Is
dependent upon him in any way A decIa-
ration of the facts has to be made on oath
by three witnesses before the exemption is
made.
A case Of fraud which hos i,>,& ..-- .