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Eastern Cherokee in
the 11th US Census
By Thomas Donaldson
The report on the condition
of the Eastern Band of Cherokees of
southwestern North Carolina in 1890, with
incidental mention of the Eastern Cherokees,
shows that this band of Indians, with very
little if any care or attention on the part
of the national government, has become
self-sustaining and self-reliant, and that
the members thereof have developed into good
citizens of the United States and the state
of North Carolina. While nominally a tribe
or band, so incorporated for certain
purposes, with a chief and a council, these
Indians are in fact as truly citizens of
North Carolina as are any people within the
borders of the state. They have never been
considered reservation Indians, and
therefore the Indian policy of the United
States has not been applied to them. There
is a United States Indian agent among them,
who is a member of the band, as many of his
predecessors have been. His duties are
nominal, and his salary is $800 per year.
The different censuses show the Eastern
Cherokees in North Carolina to be increasing
in number In. 1850, when they were in
Haywood county, they numbered 710; in 1890,
still residing in the same locality, they
are returned as numbering 1,520. In 1860,
1870, and 1880 they were enumerated as part
of the population of the state.
The Eastern Band of Cherokees is now a body
politic and corporate under the name, style,
and title of The Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians, with all the rights, privileges,
franchises, and powers incident and
belonging to corporations under the laws of
the state of North Carolina, The band was
incorporated by the general assembly of
North Carolina March 11, 1889. (Laws of
North Carolina, 1889, chapter 211, page
889.)
Principal Chief, Nimrod J. Smith, "Cha-la-di-hih" "Charles the Killer"
The Eastern Band of Cherokees of North
Carolina, 1,520 in number, reside on lands
in portions of Cherokee, Graham, Jackson,
and Swain counties, in southwestern North
Carolina. There is no reservation, but the
tract occupied by these Indians, known as
the Qualla boundary, contains about 65,000
acres, and is held in fee by the Eastern
Band of Cherokees and the Eastern Cherokees
once resident of this region, but who
removed west, and are now one of the Five
Civilized Tribes, occupying lands in Indian
Territory.
These Indians, although many are full-blood
Cherokees, are citizens of the United States
and are voters and taxpayers in North
Carolina. They are Indians taxed, and are
classed as enterprising, moral, and
law-abiding. They are almost entirely
self-supporting, receiving only a small
allowance from the United States for
educational purposes.
Farming, lumbering, and clay labor are the
chief occupations of these Indians, but some
few mechanics are found among them. Many of
them hire out as farmers and laborers. They
have a written language, and while in many
respects are progressive, seeking the
knowledge best suited to their present
condition, still they preserve some
traditions and customs of their old Indian
life.
The Indian farming tracts are small, as will
be seen by the map.
Map showing the chief location and lands of
the Eastern Band of Cherokee in Cherokee,
Jackson, Graham and Swain Counties, North
Carolina
The total number of Eastern
Cherokees in 1890 is given as 2,885. Of this
number 1,520 live in North Carolina, and are
known as the Eastern Band of Cherokees of
North Carolina; 936 are said to live in
Georgia, 318 in Tennessee, and 111 in
Alabama. In 1884 the number in North
Carolina was given as 1,881. Since 1884 some
of this band have moved into adjoining
states and others have joined the Cherokees
in Indian Territory. The few living in
Kentucky, Virginia, and other states have
become incorporated into the white
population.
The economic and social condition of the
Eastern Cherokees residing in Alabama,
Georgia, and Tennessee is about the same as
of those residing in North Carolina. They
are entirely self-supporting and are
citizens of the several states wherein they
reside.
The Eastern Cherokees do not now receive any
portion of the annuities given yearly to the
Cherokees of Indian territory, the Supreme
Court of the United States having decided
that they were not entitled to participate
in them. The Eastern Band of Cherokees of
North Carolina receive only a small sum
annually from the United States in aid of
their schools.
In 1884 Hon. Hiram Price, Commissioner of
Indian Affairs, in his annual report,
mentioned the several censuses of the
Eastern Cherokees, as follows: (a)
In September 1882, Joseph G. Hester was
appointed agent to take a census and make a
list of all the Cherokee Indians residing
east of the Mississippi river, as required
by an act approved August 7, 1882. To assist
him in this work I furnished him with copies
of 4 previous lists of this people: one
taken by J. C. Mullay as early as 1848,
containing the names of all who resided in
the state of North Carolina at the time of
the treaty of 1830, and who had not removed
west, and one taken by D. W. Siler in
pursuance of an act approved September 30,
1850, which, it is believed, includes all of
these people then residing in North
Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama.
This roll was used by Alfred Chapman, acting
for this department, in the following year
to make a per capita payment to the Eastern
Cherokees, and in doing so he found it
necessary from evidence presented to make a
few changes, so that a copy of the pay roll
made by him was also given to the agent,
together with a copy of a list of these
people taken by S. H. Swetland under an act
approved July 27, 1868.
In consequence of the wide distribution of
these Indians and their descendants over
many states, a great majority living in
localities remote from all usual routes of
travel, the task proved to be of much
greater magnitude, difficulty, and expense
than was at first anticipated, and it was
not until the 5th of last January that it
could be completed and the list submitted.
It contains the names of 1,881 members
residing in North Carolina, 758 in Georgia,
213 in Tennessee, 71 in Alabama, 11 in
Kentucky, 8 in New Jersey, 5 in Virginia, 3
each in Kansas (at present) and South
Carolina, and 1 each in California,
Colorado, and Illinois (at present), making
a total membership of 2,956.
It gives the English and Indian names (when
they have both), the age and sex of each,
and the residence or post-office address of
every family or single person, together with
the relationship of each member of a family
to the head thereof. Reference is also made
to the numbers opposite their names or the
names of their ancestors on the previous
rolls above noted that they may be
identified there, and there are such
marginal references and explanatory notes as
special MSS seemed to require. Thus, no
person's name was enrolled on this list
whose name or the name of whose ancestor
does not appear on some one of the previous
lists, and all except 47 on the previous
lists are accounted for, either as dead, or
having gone west to reside with the nation
in the Indian territory, or by enrollment as
now residing east of the Mississippi River.
These 47 persons, whose whereabouts could
not be ascertained, are believed by their
friends and relatives to have either died,
gone west, or to be now known by different
names from those under which they were
previously enrolled. A list of the 47 names
is given with this census. While the agent
was engaged in the work various persons
presented themselves to him, claiming to be
Eastern Cherokees or their descendants, whom
he declined to enroll, not believing the
evidence they submitted sufficient to
sustain their claims. He files with the
census a list of their names, accompanied by
all the papers and information he had
received or could obtain in reference to
them, which may be useful in case any of
those so rejected in future claim that they
have been wronged.
The census list, together with all evidence
and information available pertaining to it,
was laid before a council of the Eastern
Cherokees at their request (due notice
having been given to the Cherokee nation in
the Indian territory to be present by
delegates if they so desired), and after
having been carefully scrutinized by said
council was fully approved by them. A
certificate signed by the council to that
effect accompanies the list, which list,
after having been carefully examined and
compared with the previous rolls in this
office, was, on my recommendation, approved
by the department on the 4th of last
February.
Footnotes:
a. The
Eastern Cherokees include those who are now
known as the Eastern Band of Cherokees of
North Carolina.
Additional Resources
Notes About the Book:
Source: Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokees of North Carolina, by Thomas
Donaldson, 1892, 11th Census of the United States, Robert P. Porter,
Superintendent, US Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and
then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect
some errors in the textual output.
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