G3 Culture L2

G3 Culture L2

By Erika Larson

Today we will learn about the culture of the Cherokee !

The Cherokee People

https://visitcherokeenc.com/play/culture/the-people/​

"The Cherokee people are strong, resilient, and creative.

This description rings true today as much as it did yesterday.​"

The Cherokee Clans

• Blue: made medicine from a blue plant for children

• Long Hair: peacemakers, adopted people without a clan

• Bird: messengers, cared for the birds, believed birds were messengers between heaven and earth

• Paint: healers

• Deer: ​fast runners and hunters, also worked as messengers between villages, respected and cared for animals

• Wild Potato: keepers of the land

• Wol: largest clan, protectors​

• Have been in the Smoky Mountains for thousands of years!

• By 2,000 BCE they had spread across hundreds of miles.​

History

Cherokee today

There are still over 9,000 Cherokee in

North Carolina today.

Cherokee Games

• A big part of Cherokee culture are their games.

• In Cherokee, NC the Cherokee World Games will be held this summer.

• Cherokee people from all over the world will come to participate!

• ​disc stone and wooden poles

• large field - 100 ft by 12 ft

• stone made from quartz, pole made from hickory

• 2 people play at a time: one rolls the stone, both throw sticks trying to get closest to the stone

​​Chunkey

• marbles made from stone​

• L shaped field

• 5 holes 10-12 ft apart

• you have to get your marble in the first hole to move to the next one

• You can hit the opponent's marble away​

Cherokee Marbles

• ​similar to archery but with spears

• same type of spear that ancients used to hunt

• throw the spear and try to be as accurate as possible to win​

​​Atlatl

• Often​ played to settle disputes in ancient times

• today it is played all the time among Cherokees

• no protective gear

• full-contact sport

• stick made from hickory is used to throw a ball to a goal​

Cherokee stickball