40,000 years ago, the Cherokee, meaning people of fire, were a small tribe in Siberia, during the ice age. Then one day, a bridge appeared. The Cherokee followed the migrating animals in search of better land. They came onto American soil and traveled south to what is now Georgia and North Carolina. Once they settled, they began a new life style.
The Cherokee had 7 different clans, the wolf, the wild potato, the paint, the blue, the long hair, the bird, and the deer. They are expert farmers; they grow squash, beans, corn, pumpkin, sunflowers, and tobacco. Their houses were made of mud straw, reed, and grass. Men wore deerskin moccasins, and a breachout.(A piece of fabric that goes between the knees and held by a belt.)They mostly hunt, fish, and chop trees to make canoes. Women wore furs or woven fibers of plants. Knee-high skirts, deerskin, and moccasins too. They mostly gathered berries and nuts, and sew baskets as well as pottery. The Cherokee used bows and arrows to hunt deer, bear, rabbit, and other forest animals.
In the 1540's, Spanish explorer, Hernando DeSoto, searched Cherokee land in search of gold. They treated the Cherokee badly but they started a trading business. The Spanish gave them steel axes to chop trees, metal pin to replace ones of bone, and knives. About a hundred years later, The French came along. They gave the Cherokee guns, which helped them hunt animals with ease. Sometimes there was violence between tribes when it came to trading. The French then told the Cherokee to support the British that were coming to settle on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Cherokee would fight with neighboring tribes every so often but now they were about to be engaged with the French and British war. Between 1754 and 1763, the British were at war with the French to see who would own the new land. The Cherokee joined the British during the battle.
