Cherokee ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, translit=Tsalagi) is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in Swain and

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

counties in

Western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United S ...

, United States, within the

Qualla Boundary The Qualla Boundary or The Qualla is territory held as a land trust by the United States government for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who reside in western North Carolina. The area is part of the large historic Chero ...

land trust. Cherokee is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley around the intersection of U.S. Routes 19 and

441 __NOTOC__ Year 441 ( CDXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Seleucus without colleague (or, less frequently, year ...

. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 2,195. It is the capital of the federally recognized

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, ''Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi'') is a Federally recognized tribe, federally recognized Indian Tribe based in Western North Carolina in the U ...

, one of three recognized Cherokee tribes and the only one in North Carolina. The community also serves as a tourist destination, with numerous campgrounds, motels, and hotels serving visitors to the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, whi ...

, with a major entrance to the park lying within the community. Cherokee serves as the southern terminus of the

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenand ...

. The

Oconaluftee River The Oconaluftee River drains the south-central Oconaluftee valley of the Great Smoky Mountains in Western North Carolina before emptying into the Tuckasegee River. The river flows through the Qualla Boundary, a federal land trust that serves as ...

serves as a major water sports destination, and the

Oconaluftee Indian Village The Oconaluftee Indian Village is a replica of an 18th-century eastern Cherokee community founded in 1952 and located along the Oconaluftee River in Cherokee, North Carolina, United States. History The Cherokee "living museum" founded by the Eas ...

, a

living-history museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

, hosts the popular outdoor drama ''

Unto These Hills ''Unto These Hills'' is an outdoor historical drama during summers at the 2,800-seat Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee, North Carolina. It is the third oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States, after ''The Lost Colony'' in Mant ...

''.

History

Cherokee is the capital of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation and part of the traditional homelands of the Cherokee people. In the 1870s, the Eastern Band purchased the land for what is called the "Qualla Boundary". To continue the heritage of the Cherokee in the town, several signs for Cherokee's streets and buildings are written in both

Cherokee syllabary The Cherokee syllabary is a syllabary invented by Sequoyah in the late 1810s and early 1820s to write the Cherokee language. His creation of the syllabary is particularly noteworthy as he was illiterate until the creation of his syllabary. He f ...

and English. As a census-designated place (CDP), Cherokee overlaps most or part of three of the seven communities of the Qualla Boundary: Painttown, Wolftown, and Yellowhill.

Geography

Cherokee town and its surrounding Qualla Boundary is in the very mountainous Swain and Jackson counties. The highest elevation is

Clingman's Dome Clingmans Dome (or Clingman's Dome) is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina in the southeastern United States. Its name in Cherokee is Kuwahi or Kuwohi (ᎫᏩᎯ or ᎫᏬᎯ), meaning "mulberry place." At an el ...

at the border with Tennessee. Clingman's Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The

flows through downtown Cherokee.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 2,195 people, 867 households, and 561 families residing in the CDP.

Climate

Economy

The EBCI negotiated an agreement with the state, and in 1997 opened Harrah's Cherokee Casino for gaming. It has generated jobs and revenue for the tribe, providing money that the EBCI applies to its people's education, welfare and culture. In 2005, nearly four million people visited the casino and generated a

per capita ''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". The term is used in a wide variety of social sciences and statistical research contexts, including government statistic ...

profit of roughly $8,000 annually."The business of gambling"

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, 06 July 2005 Each member of the tribe is paid some annual income; the tribe reinvests other monies for health and related services, and long-term development. Since the late 20th century, most manufacturing and textile plants left the area, moving their jobs offshore to lower wage areas, such as Southeast Asia. The regional economy suffered. Many of the Cherokee had to rely on jobs related to national park tourism and recreation, which provided work for about half of the year. Many tribal members had to rely on public assistance to survive during the winter.

Tourism

Cherokee is a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

-oriented area, located at the entrance to

and at the southern end of the

. In addition to the casino, it is the site of attractions such as: *

Cherokee Botanical Garden and Nature Trail The Cherokee Botanical Garden and Nature Trail is a botanical garden and nature trail located beside the Oconaluftee Indian Village, off U.S. Route 441 in Cherokee, North Carolina. The garden displays more than 150 species of plants native to t ...

* Trail to Mount Guyot *

Museum of the Cherokee Indian A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

Oconaluftee (Great Smoky Mountains) Oconaluftee Archeological District is within the eponymous river valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, located in the Southeastern United States. Formerly a historic Cherokee village, followed by an Appalachian community, were ...

* Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual *

Eastern Cherokee history, culture, and crafts are portrayed in the

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

'', presented annually during the tourist season. The Cherokee area offers many campgrounds, trails and river adventures. It is also home to three

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than actually being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. T ...

s with zoos: Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa's Land. The zoos have been considered controversial.

Bob Barker Robert William Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American retired television game show host. He is known for hosting CBS's ''The Price Is Right'' from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American televis ...

, a retired game show host and animal rights activist, has called for closing the

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

zoos at these attractions. Cherokee Wonderland and Frontier Land were two amusement parks that operated in the area in the late 1960s and into the early 21st century, respectively. The latter was converted into a water park before being closed to make way for development of Harrah's Cherokee. When they were open, both parks featured their own

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroads (named ''

Cherokee Wonderland Railroad The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

'' and ''

Frontier Land Railroad A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

'').

Notable people

Walker Calhoun Walker Calhoun (May 13, 1918 – March 28, 2012) was an Eastern Band Cherokee musician, dancer, and teacher. He was a medicine man and spiritual leader who worked to preserve the history, religion, and herbal healing methods of his people. With ...

, musician, dancer, and teacher *

Amanda Crowe Amanda Crowe (July 16, 1928 – September 27, 2004) was an Eastern Band Cherokee woodcarver and educator from Cherokee, North Carolina. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her work has been widely exhibited and is held by ...

, woodcarver and educator *

Raymond Fairchild Raymond Fairchild (March 15, 1939 – October 13, 2019) was an American banjo player from North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains. He was widely known for his fast playing, his fancy and intricate picking, and his ability to mimic the sounds o ...

, banjo player *

Charles George Charles George (August 23, 1932November 30, 1952) was a U.S. Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat on November 30, 1952, during the Korean War. He was fatally wounded when he threw himself on a grenade to protec ...

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient * Leon Miller,

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

coach *

Clyde Moody Clyde Moody (September 19, 1915 – April 7, 1989), also known as the "Hillbilly Waltz King" and sometimes as "The Genial Gentleman of Country Music" was one of the great founders of American Bluegrass music. Early life and career Born in Che ...

, bluegrass musician * Stan Powell,

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player for the

Oorang Indians The Oorang Indians () were a traveling team in the National Football League from LaRue, Ohio (near Marion). The franchise was a novelty team put together by Walter Lingo to market his Oorang dog kennels. All of the Indians players were Native Am ...

William Holland Thomas William Holland Thomas (February 5, 1805 – May 10, 1893) was an American merchant and soldier. He was the son of Temperance Thomas (née Colvard) and Richard Thomas, who died before he was born. He was raised by his mother on Raccoon Cr ...

, Cherokee leader and

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

general

Education

Cherokee Central Schools Cherokee Central Schools (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ ᏚᏓᏥᏍᎬᎢ ''tsalagi tsunadeloquasdi dudatsisgvi'') is a school district in Cherokee, North Carolina, consisting of a single campus holding buildings serving grades K-12 a ...

operates the K–12 public schools. Cherokee High School is the local high school. The private elementary school,

New Kituwah Academy The New Kituwah Academy (Cherokee language, Cherokee: , '; ), also known as the Atse Kituwah Academy, is a private school, private bilingual Cherokee language, Cherokee- and English-language immersion school for Cherokee students in kindergarten ...

, is based on language immersion in Cherokee. Previously the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

(BIA) provided educational services, and in their schools students were not permitted to speak Cherokee.

Popular culture

Scenes from movies such as ''

Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier ''Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier'' is a 1955 American Western film produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is an edited and recut compilation of the first three episodes of the '' Davy Crockett'' television miniseries. The episodes us ...

'', ''

Digging to China ''Digging to China'' is a 1997 American drama film that marked the cinematic directorial debut of actor Timothy Hutton and the screen debut of Evan Rachel Wood. The screenplay by Karen Janszen focuses on the friendship forged between a pre-teen gi ...

'', '' Forces of Nature'', '' The Fugitive'', and ''

Stroszek ''Stroszek'' is a 1977 German tragicomedy film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Bruno S., Eva Mattes, and Clemens Scheitz. Written specifically for Bruno S., the film was shot in Plainfield, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Most of the lead ...

'' were shot in Cherokee.Locations in Cherokee, NC
from

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

References

External links

*
Cherokee Tourism website

2009 Boundary and Annexation Survey
a U.S. Census map for Cherokee and the surrounding area
The argument for a basic income
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Jackson County, North Carolina Census-designated places in North Carolina Census-designated places in Swain County, North Carolina Cherokee towns in North Carolina Communities of the Great Smoky Mountains Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tourism in North Carolina