The Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Nation

The Qualla Boundary is a large tract of land on the Oconaluftee River which serves as the main home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Nation. The town of Cherokee is also located within this tract.

Since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was dedicated in 1940, tourism has been the chief economy of the Qualla Boundary, and approximately 75% of the tribe's revenue comes from the tourist industry.

There are over fifty-five motels on the reservation and numerous campgrounds and shop's and restaurants. Visitors to the town of Cherokee can choose from wide variety of attraction's including several excellent galleries that feature Cherokee and other Native American art.

What visitors don't have the opportunity to see are two of the ancestral villages of the Upper Towns, Nununyi and Tsiskwaki. While Kituwah, located several miles west of the Qualla Boundary on the Tuckasegee River, is considered to be the original or "mother" village for the entire Cherokee tribe. (See: Cherokee Heritage and History: An Introduction to Cherokee History and Culture and Cherokee War Rituals, Culture, Festivals, Government, and Beliefs.)

Nununyi and Tsiskwaki were the two oldest Cherokee villages on the Oconaluftee River.

Although the villages were destroyed, they remain the two most important archaeological sites on the Qualla Boundary and provide much information on the development of the Cherokee culture. Nununyi, or "potato place", was a Cherokee village with mound which was occupied in the 1700's. On the map created in 1730, the village was identified as Newni.

In 1776, the naturalist William Bartram referred to it as Nuanhi.Nunuunyi; it was, however, destroyed in October 1776, by Colonel William Moore.

A second nearby village, Tsiskwaki, or "bird place", was also destroyed by Moore’s North Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War. This town was also known as Oconaluftee or Egwanul'ti meaning "beside the river". The site of Tsiskwaki is in Birdtown and area in the eastern section of the Qualla Boundary.

There was a mound here until it was excavated by representatives of the Valentine Museum in 1883. The Nununyi Mound remains largely intact, but part of the large village site and middle around Nununyi has been damaged. The Nununyi mound is located on private property near Cherokee High School. At least one proposal has been made to restore the Nununyi Mound and village site to its pre-1776 condition and open for visitation as a complement to the Oconaluftee Village.

In the early 1800s, the area near the confluence of Soco Creek and the Oconaluftee River was known as Indiantown. In 1839, when the first post office was established, Indiantown was renamed Quallatown in honor of Kwali, an old Indian women who lived nearby.

William Holland Thomas was a white trader who operated a store in Quallatown and owned several other enterprises in the area. As a boy, he was adopted by the Cherokee Chief Yonaguska. Thomas later became a spokesman, Indian Agent and lawyer, for the Cherokee living in the Quallatown area. Thomas lobbied the federal government for several years to obtain permission for the Oconaluftee Cherokees to remain on their homelands. The foundation for his argument was that the Oconaluftee Cherokees were North Carolina citizens, unlike the Cherokees living inside the Cherokee Nation.

Under the Cherokee Treaty of 1819, many Oconaluftee Cherokees had chosen to accept 640 acres (reserves, or presently referred to as tracts) from the government and to become citizens of both the United States and North Carolina. In addition, there was an unusual clause in the 1835 Treaty of New Echota which allowed certain Cherokees to remain in the east, yet still collect the same payment as those being removed. Thomas, with his experiences as a self-taught lawyer and Indian Agent, argued that this clause applied to his people, the North Carolina Cherokee. (Cherokee Treaties.)

While Cherokee Indians in other parts of the Southeast were being rounded-up for the Indian Removal in 1838, the Oconaluftee Cherokees waited for the outcome of Thomas's efforts. Finally, the Oconaluftee Cherokees were granted permission to stay or remain. During the Indian Removal, Thomas cooperated with the federal forces - in particular, General Winfield Scott - in the capture and execution of Tsali, a Cherokee who had killed a soldier during the round up. (Cherokee Trail of Tears: A History and General Winfield Scott's Cherokee Indian Removal Enforcement Orders for the Trail of Tears.)

Although Thomas had already received permission for the Oconaluftee Cherokees to remain, he cooperated in the effort to capture Tsali to avoid jeopardizing the Oconaluftee Cherokees tenuous position with the U.S. government.

After the removal, nearly all of the eleven hundred remaining North Carolina Cherokees gave William Thomas their power of attorney. He represented them in efforts to collect the money the government owed them from the Treaty of New Echota. (Red Clay Council and Red Clay Council Grounds.)

When Chief Yonaguska lay dying in 1839, he named William Thomas as his successor. Because Thomas was the official Cherokee Chief, and had become a respected businessman and prominent citizen of western North Carolina, he was appointed Indian Agent and trustee of the Oconaluftee Cherokees by both the federal government and North Carolina.

This gave Thomas control of all Cherokee funds. During the years leading up to the Civil War, Thomas continued to buy parcels of land for the Oconaluftee Cherokees, holding their lands in trust via his own name (since the Cherokee were not citizens, they were not able to own land), and the largest tract was called the Qualla Boundary. (Chief William Holland Thomas and the Cherokee Lawsuits.)

Today

• The proper name of the Cherokee Indian Reservation is the Qualla Boundary. It contains nearly 57,000 acres. Additional tribal lands are found at the Snowbird Community near Robbinsville and in Cherokee County, NC.

• Visitors often ask “Where are the tipis?” (Yes, that's the proper spelling!) Tipis were developed by western plains Indians for portability. They followed migrating and roaming herds of game. The Cherokee and other tribes in the east lived in permanent structures. Small game, fish and crops were readily available.

• Today's Cherokee Tribal Government doesn't resemble the Cherokee government of centuries ago. Once a matriarchal society with traditional stickball games settling disputes, a democratic form of government now exists. The principal chief and vice chief are elected for four year terms with tribal council members being elected every two years.

• The Qualla Boundary is federal government public trust land held as such only for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Tribal and federal laws apply with jurisdiction by Cherokee Police or federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

• Current tribal enrollment is slightly less than 13,000. About 9,000 tribal members reside on the Qualla Boundary. Tribal members are permitted to own land and houses but can sell only to other members of the tribe. All land and business transactions are recorded by the local agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

• Centuries ago the Cherokee territory included parts of what eventually became the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. The Cherokee, along with members of other southeastern tribes, were relocated to Oklahoma in 1838-39 during the infamous “Trail of Tears.”

• The Cherokee were the first Native Americans to have their own written language. Invented by Sequoyah, the syllabary contains 86 characters. The Cherokee also had their own newspaper in the mid-1800s named The Phoenix.

• The Cherokee language, almost extinct a decade ago, is now being taught in all grades of the Cherokee school system. (See Learn How to Speak, Read, and Write in the Cherokee Language.)

• The Qualla Boundary (Cherokee Indian Reservation) and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are the only federally recognized tribe and reservation land between western New York and southern Florida.

• Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual is the oldest Native American cooperative in the United States with more than 350 local craftspeople as members.

• “Unto These Hills” outdoor drama is one of the oldest outdoor dramas in the United States. Its first performance was July 1, 1950, and it still runs nightly during the summer in the beautiful mountainside theater.

• One of the top three Indian museums in the United States is the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. In 1998, it underwent a major renovation to make it a highly informative and interactive experience.

• All employees of the Oconaluftee Indian Village are enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

• Native Americans became citizens of the United States in 1924, with the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.