Selu and Kanati ("The Lucky Hunter") symbolized the interdependent and complementary aspects of Cherokee society, including female and male roles, agriculture and hunting, and birth and death. The ceremony recognized Selu or Corn Woman who, through the sacrifice of her body, gave the gift of corn to the Cherokee. Rituals and observances during the Green Corn ceremony reinforced the beliefs and values of the Cherokee and insured the continued well-being of the community. The council also met during the Green Corn ceremony to consider national interests for the coming year. Purification rituals included fasting, scratching the body, vomiting induced through the use of emetics, and a type of bathing referred to as "going to water." Renewal involved restoration of harmony through forgiveness of wrongs and reconciliation of differences. The men swept out the council house and removed the old ashes from the central hearth, whitewashed the buildings, and brought in new dirt for the ceremonial square ground. Women swept out their homes, cleaned their fireplaces, and discarded old food and clothing. The Green Corn ceremony marked a time of purification and renewal of individuals and society. Everyone abstained from eating the new corn until they had performed the ceremony. The Green Corn ceremony, the most important ceremony among the Cherokee, celebrated the harvesting of corn in late July or August.
Such control afforded women an important place in the economic, political, and religious life of the Cherokee, which depended, in great part, upon the production of corn. Husbands moved into the homes of their wives, who held proprietary responsibility for the houses, fields, and children. Men hunted deer and other game during the fall months and assisted the women at planting and harvesting time. The women, in the matrilineal and matrilocal world of the Cherokee, had primary responsibility for the fields and wild plant foods. They also gathered wild foods such as fruits and nuts, and they collected honey. The Cherokee grew two types of corn as well as beans and squash, peas, potatoes, and pumpkins. They followed a ceremonial cycle linked to agricultural seasons, such as the first green grass and the first harvest of green corn. Prior to removal, the Cherokee had an agriculturally based society. Only a few remnant groups, totaling approximately 1,400, avoided the removal west. One-quarter of those removed, or approximately 4,000 Cherokee, died on what became known as the Trail of Tears. Those Cherokee who marched west endured hunger, extreme cold, inadequate clothing and shelter, and sickness. Beginning in 1838, the United States sent troops, militia, and volunteers to forcibly remove the Cherokee to Indian Territory, which later became the state of Oklahoma. Senate ratified the Treaty of New Echota, which authorized the removal of the Cherokee.
government finalized the first treaty that called for cessions of Cherokee land in exchange for a tract of land in Arkansas for those who voluntarily emigrated west. In response to American expansionism, groups of Cherokee began emigrating to Arkansas Territory as early as 1810. The Cherokee originally occupied territory now comprising Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Cherokee citizens can be found living throughout the United States as well as within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, in North Carolina, has approximately 12,000 members and the United Keetoowah Band has about 16,000. Over 230,000 Cherokee are citizens of the Cherokee Nation, located in Oklahoma. Census, approximately 281,060 people identify as being of Cherokee descent, and 260,000 of those are federally recognized tribal members.
Today, they comprise the largest Native American group in the United States. The Cherokee, an Iroquoian-speaking people, refer to themselves as Aniyvwiya, "the Real People," or as Anitsalagi, their traditional name.
0 kommentar(er)
