Unit 10
The Cherokee and the Natchez of the American Southeast

Unit 10 discusses two cultures with long ties to the American Southeast: the Cherokee (related to the Iroquois discussed in Unit 4) and the Natchez. These two groups had a very different colonial history from each other. Both suffered through the “Trail of Tears” (forced relocation to Oklahoma). While some Cherokee survived in the Southeast as a distinct group, the Natchez disappeared as a distinctive nation, dispersed through the dislocation policies of the 1800s. The Natchez had been the sole surviving population group of those that built the fascinating mound structures of the American Southeast.

Objectives

When you have completed Unit 10, you should be able to

1. describe the geographic and environmental characteristics of the Southeast cultural area.
2. identify the geographic location of the cultural groups that historically occupied the Southeast.
3. compare Natchez and Cherokee societies with regard to
   • economy (resources, technology, division of labour, seasonal mobility);
   • social organization (group membership, marriage rules, non-kin relations);
   • political systems (leadership, social control, warfare); and
   • ideological systems (rituals, beliefs, worldview).
4. compare settlement patterns of the Natchez and Cherokee peoples.
5. describe the social changes among the Cherokee in the 1700s and the 1800s that were driven by colonialism.
6. describe the difference between new Cherokee and traditional Cherokee by the 1950s.
7. discuss the impact of tourism on the Cherokee.
8. describe the six identifiable phases of Natchez history.
9. discuss the diagnostic features of berdache status.
10. outline the debate over use of the term berdache.
11. outline the concept of a non-event.