The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1913-05-30
CHEROKEE INDIANS
Were Once Called the Mountain Peo-
pie Of North America.
est. Louis Globe Democracy

The Cherokee tribe of North Amer1-
can Indians was in the days of long
ago a unique race in many essential
respects, and they were 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 we'll able to
hold their own against any number OF
confederate tribes living north of
them and with whom they at different
times, clashed in warfare. Taking all
in all the CherOkees, when this con-
tinent was first visited by the white
man, were the most numerous, the
most powerful and the most advanced
body of Indians north of the Rio
Grande
Anciently the Cherokees lived in
what they called towns-that is in
neighborhoods or settlements consist
ing of large common, field or farm,
surrouded by the dwellings or tepees
of the families in the village-separat-
ed from each other by miles of open,
generally uninhabited, country devot-
ed to natural game
The great tribe or nation was, in
the early days of it's known history,
divided in seven clans, each clan being
composed of persons of both sexes, re-
lated to each other on the maternal
side, and comprising one great fam
ily-the entire tribe thus consisted of
but seven of these so-called families.
Members of each clan or family were
forbidden by strict law of the nation
from marrying within the same clan
under penalty of death, the clan re-
lationship being the first thing taught
to the young members of the tribe, and
always perfectly known to the individ-
ual himself The children Ga boy and
girl for eXample) born to couple, the
the father of one clan and the mother
of another, became members of the
mothers clan, when the girl grew up
and was married, her children belong
ed to the same clan as herself. When
the man married the second time and
had children by both wives, members
of separate clans, the youngsters were
always members of the clan of their
mother, although they were half broth
| ers and sisters.
A stringent tribal regulation forbade
marriage between blood relations on
the fathers side within a certain de-
gree, with as absolute severity as be-
| tween members of the same clan. 1t
was in this sthict manner the Cher
okees avoided the disastrous result
that always followed the habit or Gus
tom of inbreeding, and for this rea-
son mostly they developed into heal
| thy, active and intelligent race of In
| dians.
However, this great tribe owed its
superiority not only 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 their
success. The women of the tribe were
! held equal with the men in personal
rights and considered far superior as
respected and principle of heredity
and transmission of qualities, always
vitality important to the Cherokees
This inflexible rule pertaining to mar
rige, requiring the infusion of new
| blood at every union, was the cause of
another being added to the seven
then existing clans of the tribe.
In one of the early years of the Six
teenth century a party of some fifteen
VI C"enIy Wdlllolo, HOhDoio VI TIC
Cherokee nation, reached the vast
wilderness known formerly as the
dark and bloody ground, returning
from foray of revenge against a hos
tile tribe of the North.
In the center of this section, an i'm
mense solitude far from the habita-
tions of any body of red men, region
rarely visited by members of any tribe,
a tract upon which the braves were
10th to tread, this small band of war
riors found bound at the foot of a
holly tree, little Indian girl, whose
presence at that place and in that