THE 'TRINCIPAL PEOPLE," 1960: A STUDY OF 



CULTURAL AND SOCIAL GROUPS OF THE 



EASTERN CHEROKEE 



By Harriet Jane Kupferer 



INTRODUCTION 



The first intruders into the country of the Cherokee were the con- 

 quistadores of DeSoto, who encountered the Cherokee in their search 

 for gold. From this time, early in the 16th centm^y, the Cherokee 

 were left undisturbed until the English courted them for military and 

 diplomatic advantages and trade a centmy later (Malone, 1956, 

 pp. 1-5). The colonial period had its inception in approximately 

 1654; the first trader among the Indians took up his residence in 

 1690 and spent the remainder of his life among them (U.S. Congress, 

 1915, pp. 141-147). From this period until 1838 the fortunes of the 

 Cherokee vacUated between peaceful coexistence with the Whites and 

 sporadic hostilities and broken treaties with them. In 1838 the 

 tenuous grip of the Indians on their land was broken, and they were 

 removed to the Indian Territory. All but a thousand or so of the 

 people went west to establish a life from the shattered fragments. It 

 is with the descendants of the remnants who remained hidden in the 

 mountains, and the few who came back, that this research is concerned. 

 They now occupy a tract of land in the Great Smoky Mountains of 

 North Carolina which is held in trust for them, as a reservation, by 

 the United States Government. 



THE SETTING 



Together with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the 

 Cherokee Reservation constitutes one of the most visited seasonal 

 sites in the Southeast (map 2). Each Saturday and Sunday from 

 early spring untU late fall automobiles carrying families of sightseers 

 converge on the area. The Fourth of July is the biggest weekend of 

 the summer. At this time, automobiles form a long serpentine line as 

 they descend the mountain, traveling only a few feet in every 10 

 minutes on the highways leading into the main village of Cherokee. 



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