In the early eighteen hundreads many Cherokee Indians in the Southern Appalachian Region of our Country were killed or relocated to serveral other regions by the Army of the United States of America.

In the eighteen forties and fifties bands of Cherokee Indians had journeyed to California across the Great Plains. Some of these Cherokee Indians found a home in Tuolumne County, "Cherokee," where a large Indian Village occupied this site at that time. Subsequently, in the early twentieth century the U.S Government set aside land for Cherokee Indian Reservation and Cherokee Indian Farms near the community of Cherokee.  Later, many Cherokees migrated from this area, and the land was deeded to the Local Mi-Wuk Indians...Therefore, there remain no Cherokee land holdings within Tuolumne County today.
.



   


















     
 
                 




               


               Personal History

More and more frequently, people are discovering their Cherokee ancestry. The reasons are varied. Many times, elders have not passed this information along, and it is only as they sun is setting on their lives do they talk about their parents and grandparents--their roots.
In the early part of this century, there were many economical reasons for leaving your Native ancestry unclaimed. A "guardian" was assigned to full-bloods to help them in managing affairs. More often than not, the "guardian" benefited more than the Indian. Women were discouraged from registering by their Anglo husbands, especially if they were living outside the Indian Territory. Voting was a privilege denied Native Americans and women until 1924. The reasons can be as different as the phases of the moon, yet all had merit to that person at that time in history.
In 1976, Cherokee voters ratified a new Cherokee Constitution which changed the ways of measuring tribal membership. At that time, it was determined that anyone who could trace direct descent from the Dawes Rolls, a census taken between 1902-1907, could become a registered citizen of the Cherokee Nation. There are now over 165,000 registered Cherokee citizens.
It doesn't matter if you are rediscovering your ancestry, or fulfilling a long-time wish of "getting registered". It does matter that you are doing it now. It is a pivotal time in our lifetime for Native Americans, and it is very important to make a "voice." The first step is tracing your lineage.

                 






                   "TUALUMNE"
             
                A corruption of the
                     Indian word
              "talmalamne" which
                signifies cluster of
                  stone wigwams.



   

    

   


    Additional Info Reguarding Land for                Tuolumne Cherokee Indians

     Schedule of Indians Meetings near                          Tuolumne, California

              The Cherokee Nation

        Cherokee Wolf Clan of Yuma,                                     Tennessee

        US History Native American

            Cherokee Archival Project

           Native American Genealogy

     American Indians and the Civil War







NO. 445 CHEROKEE - Gold  was discovered here in 1853   by the Scott brothers, descendants of Cherokee Indians. Scars of placer  'diggins' in every little arroyo in Cherokee Valley, healed over by Mother Nature, were later replaced by a quartz mine. Present-day productive farms in this area were once rich placer grounds. Location: On Confidence-
Tuolumne City Rd
(P.M. 8.5), 2 mi N of             Tuolumne City.











  Traditionally, there were seven Cherokee        clans. Each is shown on this seven-sided       design next to its name in the Cherokee         language. There were seven counsellors to     the chief, and seven honored women took       part in the government. The council house,     when the government met and were held        was seven-sided. At the center of the             house, as in this design, was the sacred
  fire that kept burning with seven kinds of         wood