Living in Florida gives us close proximity to the ancestral homeland of our Cherokee ancestors who lived in the Southeast. Here are some places of interest to visit.
Alabama
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend took place near the Tallapoosa River in Alabama.
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
Red Clay State Park is located near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Red Clay served as the seat of Cherokee government from 1832 until the forced removal of the Cherokee in 1838.
Red Clay State Park
Historic Park
The Nancy Ward Gravesite is located near Benton, Tennessee
Nancy Ward Gravesite
Information about Nancy Ward
Here is the website for the the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The Trail covers the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
New Echota Historic Site located in Calhoun, Georgia.
New Echota Historic Site
During the 1790s, James Vann became a Cherokee Indian leader and wealthy businessman.
Chief Vann House
The former home of Major Ridge
Chieftains Museum
The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum is located in Vonore, Tn.
Sequoyah Birthplace Museum
Tuskeegee, Tennessee was the birthplace and boyhood home of Sequoyah.
Tuskeegee, Tennessee
Northeast of Chattanooga, at the northern edge of the Eastgate Mall parking lot, stands the shady, wrought-iron-fenced Brainerd Cemetery, the last physical trace of a Congregationalist (Presbyterian) mission to the Cherokees that operated between 1817 and 1838
Brainerd Mission Cementery
Ross's Landing Historical Marker in Chattanooga, Tn
Ross's Landing
The Clingman's Dome Known as Kuwahi or Mulberry Place to the Cherokee, this high peak was one of four mountain peaks under which the bears had their townhouses.
Clingman's Dome
The Junaluska Museum and Memorial Site is located in Robbinsville, North Carolina. Junaluska was a Cherokee Warrior.
The Kituwah Mound is nestled in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina, near a fork in the Tuckasegee river.
Kituwah Mound
Mingo Falls called Big Bear Falls in the Cherokee language is a beautiful watterfall located on the Qualla Boundry in North Carolina.
Mingo Falls
Other Waterfalls in the Great Smokey Mountains
The Mountain Heritage Center of Western Carolina University sits on an old Cherokee town site on Cullowhee Creek, which drains into the Tuckaseegee. There are exibits here that feature Cherokee artifacts.
Mountain Heritage Center
The Nantahala Gorge in North Carolina plays an important part in Cherokee lore.
Nantahala Gorge
The Nikwasi Mound is in the center of Franklin, North Carolina.
Nikwasi Mound
Wayah Bald, near Franklin, North Carolina, is named for the red wolves that once lived on its slopes. "Wa ya" means wolf in the Cherokee language.
Wayah Bald
The Oconaluftee Indian Village located in Cherokee, North Carolina is an 18th century recreation of a Cherokee Village.
Occonaluftee Indian Village