Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-05-01
THE CHEROKEE INDIANS
Interesting History of Most IntelIi-
gent Band of Redmen in
America.


an unique race in many essential re-
spects and they we're an exclusive
and isolated people, being called the
'mountaineers of North America"
by the earliest white people who
came to know them. This great
tribe at all times proved themselves
well able to hold their own against
any number of confederate tribes liv-
ing north of them and with whom
they, at different times, clashed in
warfare. Taking all in all the Cher
| okees, when this continent was first
visited by the white man, were the
most numerous, the most powerful
and the most advanced body of In
dians north of the Rio Graude.
Anciently the Cherokees lived in
what they called itowns-that is, in
neighborhoods of settlements consist
ing of large common, field or farm,
surrounded by the dwellings or tee
pees of the families of the village
separated from each other by miles
of open, generally uninhabited; coun-
try devoted to natural game.
The great tribe or nation was, in
the early days of it's known history,
divided into seven clans, each clan
being composed of persons of both
sexes, related to each othe.' on the
maternal side, and comprising one
great family-the entire tribe thus
consisting of but seven OF these So
called families. Members of each
clan or family were forb & len by a
strict law of the nation frcn marry
ing within the same clan under pen
atty of death, the clan relationship
being the first thing taught to the
young members of the tribe, and al
ways perfectly known to the indi-
vidual himself. The children Ga boy
and a girl, for example) born to a
couple, the father of one clan and
the mother of another became men,
bers of the mothers clan; when the
| girl grew up and was married her
children belonged to the same clan
as herself, but the children of the
son became members of the clan
to which the woman he had married
belonged, which was always differ
ent from his own When a man
married the second time and had
children by both wives, members OF
separate clans, the youngsters al
ways became members of the clan Of
their mother, although they were
half brothers and sisters.
A stringent tribal regulation for
1 bade marriage between blood rela-
tions on the fathers side within a
certain degree, with as absolute Sc
verify as between members of the
same clan. It was in this strict man.
ner that the Cherokees avoided the
disastrous results that always fol.
lowed the habit or custom of in
breeding, and for this reast n mostly
they developed into healthy, active
and intelligent race of Indians.
However, this great tribe owed it's
superiority not alone to the clan sys-
tenn of marriage and descent, as the
high regard paid to the feminine por.
ton of the race was another remark
able and beneficial feature of theil
success. The women of the tribe
were held equal with the men in per-
sonal rights and considered far SUI
perior as respected the principle Of
heredity and transmission of quail
ties, always vitality important to the
Cherokees. This inflexible rule per
tanning to marriage, requiring the
infusion of new blood at every union
! was the cause of another being add
ed to the seven then existing clans
of the tribe.
, In one of the early years of the
sixteenth century party Of some Ii
or 20 warriors, members of the Cher
, okee Nation, reached the vast wilder
ness known formerly as the ''darl
. and bloody ground" returning from
D foray of revenge against hostil,
northern tribe.
In the center of this section, al
., immense solitude far from the habi
tations of any body of red men, |
! region rarely visited by members o
6 any tribe, a tract upon which thu
. braves were loath to tread, this small
band of warriors found, bound at tn,
foot of holly tree, a little Indial
girl, whose presence at that plac,
4 and in that situation gave the i'm
] preston that she had been carried
and left there as an intended xictin
, or sacrifice to satisfy the savage in
stinct of some superstitious parent
or tribe. Her costume was fine, bu
of a structure the Cherokees hat
: never seen nor of which they hat
D any knowledge. The little one wa
: perfect of form and feature. although
] prostrated from terror and exhaus
tion. When question she replied il