Cherokee () is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...
(CDP) in
Swain and
Jackson 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 (EBCI), who reside in Western North Carolina. The area is part of the large histori ...
land trust. Cherokee is located in the
Oconaluftee River Valley around the intersection of
U.S. Routes 19 and
441
__NOTOC__
Year 441 (Roman numerals, CDXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cyrus of Panopolis, Seleucus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 119 ...
. 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, 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 a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southeastern United States, southeast, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline o ...
, with a major entrance to the park lying within the community. The Cherokee Historical Association runs 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, Cherokee, North Carolina, United States.
History
The Cherokee "living ...
, a
living-history museum, as well as the popular outdoor drama ''
Unto These Hills'', and is associated with the
Museum of the Cherokee People. Cherokee serves as the southern terminus of the
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and National Scenic Byway, All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for through 29 counties in Virginia and ...
. The
Oconaluftee River flows through the town and is popular for tubing.
History
Cherokee is the capital of the
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians 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 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 and its surrounding Qualla Boundary is in the very mountainous Swain and Jackson counties. The highest elevation is
Kuwohi
Kuwohi (, also known as Clingmans Dome, its former official name) is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina in the Southeastern United States.
At an topographical summit, elevation of , it is the highest mountai ...
at the border with Tennessee. Kuwohi is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The
Oconaluftee River flows through downtown Cherokee.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census, 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".
Social statistics
The term is used in a wide variety of social science, social sciences and statistical research conte ...
profit of roughly $8,000 annually.
["The business of gambling"](_blank)
CNN, 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-oriented area, located at the entrance to
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southeastern United States, southeast, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline o ...
and at the southern end of the
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and National Scenic Byway, All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for through 29 counties in Virginia and ...
. 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 ...
* Trail to
Mount Guyot
*
Museum of the Cherokee Indian
*
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, Cherokee, North Carolina, United States.
History
The Cherokee "living ...
*
Oconaluftee (Great Smoky Mountains)
* Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual
*
Oconaluftee River
Eastern Cherokee history, culture, and crafts are portrayed in the
historical drama
A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...
''
Unto These Hills'', 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 being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboard (advertis ...
s with zoos: Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa's Land.
The zoos have been considered controversial.
Bob Barker, a retired game show host and animal rights activist, has called for closing the
black bear 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 (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
railroads (named ''Cherokee Wonderland Railroad'' and ''Frontier Land Railroad'').
Notable people
*
Walker Calhoun – musician, dancer, and teacher
*
Amanda Crowe – woodcarver and educator
*
Raymond Fairchild – banjo player
*
Charles George –
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
recipient
*
Edwin George - folk artist and muralist
*
Leon Miller –
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
player and
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a contact 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 w ...
coach
*
Clyde Moody –
bluegrass musician
*
Stan Powell –
NFL player for the
Oorang Indians
Education
Cherokee Central Schools
Cherokee Central Schools (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ ᏚᏓᏥᏍᎬᎢ ''tsalagi tsunadeloquasdi dudatsisgvi'') is a school district in Cherokee, North Carolina, consisting of a single campus holding buildings ...
operates the K–12 public schools.
Cherokee High School is the local high school.
The private elementary school,
New Kituwah Academy, 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 List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
(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'', ''
Digging to China'', ''
Forces of Nature'', ''
The Fugitive'', and ''
Stroszek'' were shot in Cherokee.
Locations in Cherokee, NC
from Internet Movie Database
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
Media
The '' Cherokee One Feather'' newspaper has served the community for decades.
File:MingoFalls-Aug08-CherokeeNC.jpg, Mingo Falls near Cherokee drops about during moderately dry weather.
Image:Bridge over Oconaluftee River in Cherokee, NC IMG 4887.JPG, Walking bridge over the Oconaluftee River in Cherokee
File:Cherokee Central Schools.jpg, Cherokee Central Schools
Cherokee Central Schools (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ ᏚᏓᏥᏍᎬᎢ ''tsalagi tsunadeloquasdi dudatsisgvi'') is a school district in Cherokee, North Carolina, consisting of a single campus holding buildings ...
using Cherokee syllabary
File:National Powwow dancer 2007.jpg, Member of the Warriors of AniKituhwa, a traditional Eastern Cherokee band dance troupe
Image:Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, NC IMG 4881.JPG, Museum of the Cherokee Indian on Tsali Boulevard in Cherokee
File:Cherokee Baptist Church, Cherokee, NC.jpg, Cherokee Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
Church
References
External links
*
Cherokee tourism website
{{Authority control
Cherokee towns in North Carolina
Communities of the Great Smoky Mountains
Qualla Boundary
Tourism in North Carolina