History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore

Emmet Starr

Jan 2003 · Genealogical Publishing Com

About this ebook

Whatever may be their origins in antiquity, the Cherokees are generally thought to be a Southeastern tribe, with roots in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennesee, among other states, though many Cherokees are identified today with Oklahoma, to which they had been forceably removed by treaty in the 1830s, or with the lands of the Eastern Band of Cherokees in western North Carolina. The largest of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes, which also included Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, the Cherokees were the first tribe to have a written language, and by 1820 they had even adopted a form of government resembling that of the United States.

Ratings and reviews

This work is the bedrock of much of the Mixed-Blood Cherokee family research that was done by family genealogists during the twentieth century. It was compiled during the early twentieth century following Oklahoma statehood in 1907, by Dr. Emmet Starr, a physician of mixed Cherokee heritage. Dr Starr spent years interviewing persons of Cherokee ancestry living within the present day Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and copiously recorded and codified the data regarding individual Cherokee's knowledge of their family history. Many of these families had oral traditions and histories. These families had been increasingly requested/required by both the Cherokee Nation and the United States Federal government to document their family linkage to the old Cherokee nation in the southeastern United States prior to removal called "The Trail of Tears" in 1838. This lineage was required for membership in the Cherokee tribe and in order to receive allotments through the Dawes Commission. Rolls for the Dawes Commission were closed in 1906. Dr. Starr compiled this genealogical history and made it available for subscription purchase to contributing participants. This 2003 printing is a reprint edition making the original 'out of print' book available. It is possibly the most comprehensive document produced privately at this time. While the vast information contained in this work is impressive, it is not infallible. Starr was accurate with much of the data, but also made errors. This is an outstanding document to use as springboard for further research or to confirm/prove using original source documents.

I love reading this on-line. It is facinating. Very well written and totally real to life.