Originally, Cherokee land encompassed 140,000 square miles throughout what would now be part of eight southern states. Finely crafted stone tools and fluted spear-points confirm that Cherokee people lived in the area more than 11,000 years ago. And when European explorers arrived, they found industrious race of people that dominated the southern Appalachians. For the first 200 years of contact, the Cherokees extended hospitality and help to the newcomers.

But, by 1820s and after nearly 200 years of broken treaties, the Cherokee empire was reduced to a small territory. Andrew Jackson began to insist that all southeastern Indians be moved west of the Mississippi. The federal government no longer needed the Cherokees as strategic allies against the French and British. Land speculators wanted Cherokee land to sell for cotton plantations and for the gold that was discovered in Georgia. Although the Cherokees resisted removal through their bilingual newspaper and through legal means, taking their case all the way the Supreme Court, Jackson’s policy prevailed. In 1838, events culminated in the tragic Trail of Tears, the forced removal of the Cherokees in the East to Oklahoma. One quarter to half of the 16,000 Cherokees who began the long march died of exposure, disease, and the shock of separation from their home.

A few Cherokees refused to move and hid among the wilderness of the Great Smoky Mountains, avoiding the army and authorities. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal members are direct descendents of those who avoided the Cherokees’ forced removal to Oklahoma. These Cherokees were allowed to claim some of their lands in western North Carolina in the 1870's. In 1889, a 56,000 acre sect of land was chartered and is now called the Qualla Boundary.