CHEROKEES OF NORTH CAROLINA — GILBERT 535 



genetic traits, including both matters of temperament and ways of 

 acting, as well as physical traits, conjoined with the maintenance of 

 the aboriginal speech and home-taught traditions, has made of the 

 Cherokees a true nationality, sojourning in the same State with those 

 of European and African descent but clearly differentiated from them. 



WHITE MAN VERSUS CHEROKEE 



A people firmly rooted in the soil and in their own traditions will 

 never be extirpated but will persist and grow in spite of an adversity 

 which may seem to undermine their continued existence. The strength 

 of a race lies in the tenacity of its attachment to the physical environ- 

 ment, along with the degree of its adherence to traditional ways of life. 



It is quite a problem at this late date to analyze the degree of blood 

 admixture of Cherokees and whites. However, some indications exist 

 which point to the continued existence of a considerable body of near 

 fullbloods as the core of the band. Early descriptions indicate that 

 the Cherokees were of fine muscular physique and tall in stature. 

 The hair was described as always black, lank, and straight, and the 

 beard variously noted as thick or sparse. 



Blood admixture with whites, particularly Scotch and Scotch-Irish, 

 Germans, and English, has been widespread and prolonged over the 

 entire historic period. Mixing with other Indian tribes has occurred, 

 particularly with the Catawba. L. H. Snyder (1926) reported on an 

 examination of 250 individuals wherein the fullbloods showed a per- 

 centage of 93.6 of blood type I while mixedbloods were 59.3 percent 

 of blood type I. 



An examination of the clan affiliations of the heads of 321 families 

 was made by the present writer in 1932 and clan affiliations were noted 

 for 475 persons. Of the families listed, about 8 percent (28 families) 

 showed no clan affiliation of either father or mother. These may be 

 taken to be persons of little or no Indian blood. In the case of 71 

 families, i. e., 22 percent, only one of the two heads of the families 

 showed clan affiliation. These may be taken as definitely mixedbloods. 

 The remaining 216 families, or about 60 percent of the whole, gave 

 evidence of clan affiliations in both parents. 



The mixedbloods and "white Indians" occupied the bottom lands 

 along streams which furnish the best agricultural possibilities, whereas 

 the fullbloods and near fullbloods tended to live on the slopes and 

 upper reaches of the streams. Of all the several communities at 

 Qualla, the Indians at Big Cove seem to have retained their traditional 

 culture the most effectively. However, predictions as to the future 

 complete dissolution of the Cherokee tradition may have been prema- 

 ture. Much of the traditional culture probably continues through 

 oral transmission from parent to child in fullblood families. 



412575 — 57 35 



