Leaving our homeland
It is often difficult to summarize the history of the Northern Cherokee because they are made up of several groups that went by many names such as The Chickamauga, Old Settlers, Eastern Cherokees West of the Mississippi, and The Northern Cherokee Nation of Missouri and Arkansas, among others. At present, to contain all of our people that remain in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and those scattered elsewhere, the name has been shortened to The Northern Cherokee Nation. They all came to the Ozark areas of Arkansas and Missouri at different times, but all came to escape the encroachment on their lands by the white settlers. Some of the large groups to leave the homeland left as early as the 1600’s. One of the first established Cherokee settlements in Arkansas was recorded in 1721 by French Traders. This settlement was in the Southwestern part of Arkansas, south of where the Arkansas and Mississippi River meet and was estimated to have been there since about 1684. By the early 1700’s there were numerous Cherokee settlements all along the Mississippi, St. Francis, Arkansas, White, and Sac Rivers in both Arkansas and Missouri.
During the 1700’s there were many treaties signed with numerous tribes by the British, Spanish, French and the newly formed government of the United States of America. Most of them took everything they could and left little. During the second half of the 1700’s there arose a young War Chief called Dragging Canoe or ‘Tsi'yu-gunsini’. His father Attacullaculla was the acting Peace Chief of the Cherokee Nation and Oconostota was the Principle Chief. Dragging Canoe could see how all the treaties were not to our favor so he made an impassioned plea before the Cherokee Council before they signed yet another treaty, The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals or the Henderson Purchase 1775.
"Whole Indian Nations have melted away like snowballs in the sun before the white man's advance. They leave scarcely a name of our people except those wrongly recorded by their destroyers. "Where are the Delaware? They have been reduced to a mere shadow of their former greatness. We had hoped that the white men would not be willing to travel beyond the mountains. Now that hope is gone. They have passed the mountains, and have settled upon Tsalagi (Cherokee) land. "They wish to have that usurpation sanctioned by treaty. When that is gained, the same encroaching spirit will lead them upon other land of the Tsalagi (Cherokees). New cessions will be asked. Finally the whole country, which the Tsalagi (Cherokees) and their fathers have so long occupied, will be demanded, and the remnant of the Ani Yvwiya, the Real People, once so great and formidable, will be compelled to seek refuge in some distant wilderness. There they will be permitted to stay only a short while, until they again behold the advancing banners of the same greedy host. "Not being able to point out any further retreat for the miserable Tsalagi (Cherokees), the extinction of the whole race will be proclaimed. Should we not therefore run all risks, and incur all consequences, rather than to submit to further loss of our country? "Such treaties may be all right for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for me, I have my young warriors about me. We will hold our land."
Tsi'yu-gunsini acted on his words. Between 1777-1792, Dragging Canoe and his warriors in the Chickamauga Confederacy attacked illegal Yonega settlements on Tsalagi homelands. The Chickamauga Confederacy, which consisted of Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Shawnees, freed Blacks and some 300 British Tories, was a formidable force and numbered approximately 1,000 warriors by 1777, defeating the U.S. military in two decisive battles (1780 and 1781). Dragging Canoe also chose his battles wisely, withdrawing warriors and their families from clan towns when confronting larger U.S. forces practicing "scorched earth" campaigns. In doing so, he and the Chickamauga Confederacy outlasted their British allies and sustained one of the most unified and boldest Indigenous resistance movements ever to confront American imperialism.
During the 1700’s there were many treaties signed with numerous tribes by the British, Spanish, French and the newly formed government of the United States of America. Most of them took everything they could and left little. During the second half of the 1700’s there arose a young War Chief called Dragging Canoe or ‘Tsi'yu-gunsini’. His father Attacullaculla was the acting Peace Chief of the Cherokee Nation and Oconostota was the Principle Chief. Dragging Canoe could see how all the treaties were not to our favor so he made an impassioned plea before the Cherokee Council before they signed yet another treaty, The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals or the Henderson Purchase 1775.
"Whole Indian Nations have melted away like snowballs in the sun before the white man's advance. They leave scarcely a name of our people except those wrongly recorded by their destroyers. "Where are the Delaware? They have been reduced to a mere shadow of their former greatness. We had hoped that the white men would not be willing to travel beyond the mountains. Now that hope is gone. They have passed the mountains, and have settled upon Tsalagi (Cherokee) land. "They wish to have that usurpation sanctioned by treaty. When that is gained, the same encroaching spirit will lead them upon other land of the Tsalagi (Cherokees). New cessions will be asked. Finally the whole country, which the Tsalagi (Cherokees) and their fathers have so long occupied, will be demanded, and the remnant of the Ani Yvwiya, the Real People, once so great and formidable, will be compelled to seek refuge in some distant wilderness. There they will be permitted to stay only a short while, until they again behold the advancing banners of the same greedy host. "Not being able to point out any further retreat for the miserable Tsalagi (Cherokees), the extinction of the whole race will be proclaimed. Should we not therefore run all risks, and incur all consequences, rather than to submit to further loss of our country? "Such treaties may be all right for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for me, I have my young warriors about me. We will hold our land."
Tsi'yu-gunsini acted on his words. Between 1777-1792, Dragging Canoe and his warriors in the Chickamauga Confederacy attacked illegal Yonega settlements on Tsalagi homelands. The Chickamauga Confederacy, which consisted of Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Shawnees, freed Blacks and some 300 British Tories, was a formidable force and numbered approximately 1,000 warriors by 1777, defeating the U.S. military in two decisive battles (1780 and 1781). Dragging Canoe also chose his battles wisely, withdrawing warriors and their families from clan towns when confronting larger U.S. forces practicing "scorched earth" campaigns. In doing so, he and the Chickamauga Confederacy outlasted their British allies and sustained one of the most unified and boldest Indigenous resistance movements ever to confront American imperialism.
