Amy Shackleford

ENG 303
November 16, 2014
Brief Insight on the Kentucky Indian Nations: Cherokee and Chickasaw
A Cherokee is telling his grandson about a fight that is going on inside himself. He said
it is between 2 wolves. One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, fearful thinking, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other
is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity,
truth, compassion and faith. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his
grandfather, Which wolf wins? The Cherokee simply replied, The one I feed (Two
WolvesA Cherokee Tale). Long before the first explorers ever set foot on American soil there
were people already here. While these people have been called many names over the past
centuries, today this group of people are known by the name, Native Americans. Native
Americans have given white settlers many things, from moral tales like the one above, Two
Wolves, to the knowledge to be able to grow their own food. Native Americans lived in
different tribes in America; two tribes that called Kentucky their home region were the Cherokee
and Chickasaw. Through evidence an individual can see that these two tribes had similarities and
differences, and both evolved through many hardships and situations over the years displaying
much of the turmoil seen in the Cherokee tale above.
The Tribes
The Cherokee Indians were a very large Native American tribe that originally settled in
the southeast portions of the United States. They settled in North and South Carolina, Georgia,
and Tennessee after migrating south from the Great Lakes region. The word Cherokee translates

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into "those who live in the mountains"(Cherokee Indian Facts). There was also a group known as
the Chickamauga Cherokee that settled in south central and southeastern Kentucky counties.
This group placed their historical mark at the sacred lands of Wayne, McCreary, Clinton,
Pulaski, and more (The Kentucky Cherokee). The Chickasaw, on the other hand, are known to
have lived in the western edge of Kentucky with Tennessee bordering their land on one side, and
Missouri bordering it on the other. The word Chickasaw means, rebel, which is fitting for this
Indian nation because they had many enemies.
Tribal Shelter
Contrary to popular belief, the Cherokee or Chickasaw people did not live in teepees.
Only the Plains Indians lived in that type of housing and this was because of their nomadic way
of life following their major food source, the buffalo. The Cherokee and the Chickasaw lived in
similar types of housing. These two tribes historically lived in houses made of mud and clay with
roofs of brush and river cane. In the winter time, they lived in even smaller clay and mud houses
which included the construction of the roof, as well, in order to keep warm. By the late 1700s,
many Cherokees were living in log cabins while some even lived in clapboard houses like their
non-Indian counterparts (Cherokee Nation Entertainment, 2010). Shown below is a picture of
what the traditional Cherokee and Chickasaw homes looked like.

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Indian Removal Act of 1830

PBS states, Early in the 19th century, while the rapidly-growing United States expanded
into the lower South, white settlers faced what they considered an obstacle. This area was home
to the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole nations. These Indian nations, in the
view of the settlers and many other white Americans, were standing in the way of progress.
Eager for land to raise cotton, the settlers pressured the federal government to acquire Indian
Territory (1998). White settlers had never been very nice to any of the American Indians. They
believed they were savages who were in the way of things that they wanted. Even people who
did not absolutely despise the Native Americans believed that they needed to be civilized. In
Kentucky something terrible happened known as the Cherokee Childrens Massacre of 1810 at
Yahoo Falls, because of the hatred some white settlers possessed for the American Indians. In
1810, a group of Indian Fighters got together, rallied with the motto Nits make Lice. By this
statement, they were meaning that the Cherokee Children would grow up to be adults whom they
hated, and these men aimed to stop the process. Word got out that the Beloved Woman Corn
Blossom was rounding up all the Chickamauga Cherokee women and children in Southern
Kentucky to travel together to Reverend Blackburns church, where they would be housed and
fed, for all the tribe was starving. The women and children were to meet in the rock shelter
behind Yahoo Falls, so that they could all travel together from that point on. Unfortunately, the
group of Indian haters ambushed them while in the shelter, and brutally murdered over one

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hundred women and children (Troxell, 1996). Sadly, this was just the beginning of the brutality
shown towards the American Indians.
The following is a link to an in-depth article about the Childrens Massacre of 1810
behind Yahoo Falls, written by Danny Troxell, a direct descendant of Corn Blossom:
http://happytrails_2.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/ywahoo.htm
PBS also informs, In 1830, just a year after taking office, Jackson pushed a new piece
of legislation called the "Indian Removal Act" through both houses of Congress. It gave the
president power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi.
Under these treaties, the Indians were to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange
for lands to the west. Those wishing to remain in the east would become citizens of their home
state. This act affected not only the southeastern nations, but many others further north. The
removal was supposed to be voluntary and peaceful, and it was that way for the tribes that agreed
to the conditions. But the southeastern nations resisted, and Jackson forced them to leave
(1998). During the removal of these nations to the west, known as the Trail of Tears, 40,000
American Indians died including many Cherokee and Chickasaw.
The Cherokee and Chickasaw Indian Nations are still recognized today. These two
nations who had tribes in Kentucky are part of our history, even when some wanted them erased.
They were native to America long before anyone even knew about it. They found ways and
techniques to survive even in the harshest conditions. By looking at the evidence presented
above, a person can see that while the two tribes did have some distinct differences, they had
many similarities that enabled each of them to evolve and endure the hardships over the years.
Like the Cherokee Tale of Two Wolves, these two groups have had to brave numerous battles,
not only with white settlers, but inside themselves, as well, in order to survive.

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Work Cited
Ballard, William. Cherokee House. 1993. Museum of the Cherokee Indian, TN. Forum 1. Web.
18 November 2014.
Cherokee Indian Facts. nativeamericanindianfacts.com. Southeast American Indian Facts. n.d.
Web. 17 November 2014
Indian Removal. Pbs.com. PBS. 1998. Web. 18 November 2014
The Kentucky Cherokee. Southerncherokeenationky.com. Southern Cherokee Nation of
Kentucky. 2012. Web. 17 November 2014
Troxell, Danny. The Great Cherokee Children Massacre at Ywahoo Falls. Kentucky, 1996.
Web. 18 November 2014.
Two Wolves- a Cherokee Tale. davidstanleybell.com. David Stanley Bell. 2006. Web. 17
November 2014.