Missy had a fitful sleep concerned that we were spending too much on the gem cutting. We started the day returning to the gem mine and changing our order from one of nine cut gems at a cost of over $300 to one of two cut gems at a cost of about $60. We could get more stones cut in the future if we thought it worthwhile.

Today was Cherokee Day for us. We toured the recently renovated (at a cost of over $3 million) Museum of the Cherokee Indian on the Cherokee reservation in Cherokee, NC. This is a stunning museum. It uses artifacts, dioramas, short videos, recorded voices, murals and statues to vividly depict the story of the Cherokees from prehistoric times (11,000 BCE) until today.

Cherokee gives thanks

The Cherokee culture was at its peak when Europeans arrived. At that time the Cherokee were a farming people, thriving on the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash.

In the 18th century, the King of England promised the Cherokee would not be pushed off their land by settlers. The treaty wasn't enforced than was negated by American Independence. The new country sought a solution to the "Indian problem" (i.e., how to satisfy settlers' desire for lands occupied by native peoples). The chosen solution was to "civilize" the Indians by stripping them of their culture and land. This became, by the 1830s, the Indian displacement policy whereby all Indians east of the Mississippi were to be relocated to the Indian Territory. This policy was put in place under the administration of Andrew Jackson, despite the assistance he received from the Cherokees during the Creek Wars. For the Cherokees, this became the forced Trail of Tears death march. Of the 17 thousand who marched, roughly one fourth died en route. The survivors became the western tribe of Cherokees. Not all Cherokees went on the march; some hid in the mountains of North Carolina. Their descendents are the eastern tribe of Cherokee and they inhabit the reservation on which the city of Cherokee is located.

The Museum tells the story of Tsali; for whom the Tsali Trails are named. Desperate to avoid the brutality of the Trail of Tears, Tsali led others to hide in the mountains. Tsali and his family members were pressured to surrender. While in custody they attacked and killed several soldiers and escaped into hiding. The U.S. army sent 1,200 troops into the mountains to find him but they gave up trying after two months. Tsali was promised that if he surrendered, his people could live in the mountains forever. Tsali and his family members surrendered and were executed but his people were denied ownership of their homeland. A few hundred remained in hiding and weren't forcibly evicted. A white man bought land for them with the money allowed by the government for their confiscated property. This became their "Indian reservation." The Eastern Cherokee, considered by the U.S. government a different tribe than the Western Cherokee, now number about 4,500.

Just up the mountain from the Museum of the Cherokee Indian is the Oconaluftee Indian Village; a recreation of an 18th century Cherokee village. We took the guided tour of the village (the only way to see it) and found it very informative. Many aspects of Cherokee life were demonstrated including weaving, beading, pottery, home life, tribe life, and the making of weapons, canoes, and masks. The village grounds include a Cherokee garden and nature walk that identifies which plants were used in the treatment of various illnesses; plants still used in complimentary medicines today.

A Cherokee woman plying the centuries old craft of weaving.	Eric walks past a recreation of a 19th century Cherokee cabin. this cabin design appears influenced by European settlers. We don't know what Cherokee pre-European dwellings looked like but they were permanent structures (not teepees) since the Cherokee were primarily farmers.

A personal observation about the Cherokee. It seemed to us the majority of Cherokee adults are obese. Why would this be? Is it the change from a diet based on corn, beans, and squash to a western meat-based diet? Is it a more sedentary lifestyle? Do the Cherokee, a long-suffering people, gain emotional support from food? Is it related to the smoking of hemp? (We were told that many Cherokee smoke hemp and that the reason few Cherokee are employees of Harrah's owned and operated casino on reservation land is that most applicants couldn't pass the drug test.)

The main road running through Cherokee has a very touristy look and feel to it. We unsuccessfully sought a restaurant likely to cater to vegans. We gave up and headed back to Tsali Trails for more mountain biking. This time we sought to ride the Thompson Loop, which was open for bikers this day. We found the initial incline too steep and the path too rocky and too heavily trafficked (experienced mountain bikers sped at us in the direction we were heading). We retreated to the familiar right loop even though this was a day it was reserved for horseback riding. Again, there were no horses so we were on our own (though we did see another biker and a jogger). Curt stopped or fell half as many times as he did the previous day on the Trail; though he took a big fall down a slope when he cut a banked curve too sharply. Eric again did his bear in the woods routine (bouncing on a bike seat must shake it out of him).

We filmed ourselves riding the trails this day. Eric, though he didn't fall throughout the four mile ride, fell over a tree root when the camera was rolling. Missy again traversed the trail flawlessly. Her only error was leaving her wallet in plain view on the trunk of our car. Two hours later when we were placing the bikes on the rack she noticed her error. No one had disturbed her wallet.

Back home we dined and had banana shakes for dessert--we had brought our blender to make this treat.

Back to Curt, Missy, and Eric Homepage	Back to All Diaries

© 1999 frantzml@juno.com