The Lone Wolf Band of Cherokee Indians
Indiana's Cherokee people.

THE CHEROKEE IN INDIANA.

This is the story told us by our parents and the old ones. It is not told in the history books but we continue to receive supporting evidence to this story by the people of Cherokee blood that joins us, and by hearing the stories that were told them by their ancestors. They all have the same basic story, all their ancestors came from the same places during the same times which would be considered more than just a coincidence. In the 1700's, a band of Cherokee in Georgia and North Carolina (the first lands of the Cherokee), had visions about the coming of the white man. In the vision it was seen that the white man would steal their lands from them, kill them and their families, or drive them to faraway lands. So those that believed these visions and storeys, left their homes and friends and traveled up and into the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina where they hoped the white man would never come. There they built new homes and started families, believing that they would not be found by the white man.

Some smaller bands of the Cherokee went farther northward into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio and settled along the way. The story went that the ones who went north were warriors, and as they continued northward they battled with the then Indiana Indian tribes along the way. Along the way north some Cherokee found areas of rich lands that seemed good for them to settle in and so they did, leaving a scattered trail of Cherokee people along the way.

Many years passed and all went well for the mountain Cherokee, but then came the 1800's. The white man did come as it was visioned by the old ones. The white man found gold in Georgia which fueled the already present desire to rid the lands of the Indians, and so it went. Those that were still living in Georgia were either killed or were force marched off by the United States Calvary to North Carolina, where more Cherokee were found. All the Cherokee were rounded up like cattle and they were all force marched to what they were told, were better lands. This march was later called “The Trail of Tears”. Some of the Cherokee escaped the march and they headed into the mountains where some joined up with the decedents of Cherokees that came to the mountains many years prior.

The ones that had escaped into the mountains were not forgotten by the government and the Calvary was sent into the mountains to search for them. But the Cherokee people were smarter and every time the Calvary came closer to where they were living, the Cherokee went farther up into the mountains.

Eventually, the search for the Cherokee became to expensive and the government lost interest in finding the Cherokee. So the searches were halted and those Cherokee living there finally saw peace.

Peace had come. Homes were built, families started, and crops were planted. But the worry of being Cherokee, or just Indian, had not vanished. So to protect themselves from any possible future retaliation by the government, these Cherokee changed their names and settled in with the white mountain people, and they remained in the mountains living as whites. Some even began going to the churches of the mountain people.

They avoiding having anything to do with any written record of their existence. Never spoke to outsiders about their heritage, they would not talk their own language, they practiced their ceremonies in secret. and basically became invisible. That was not hard to do in the mountains at that time since the mountains were seldom, if at all visited by anyone other than the mountain people. They eventually became the lost and forgotten Cherokee people.

Then in the 1900's, the depression era and prohibition began. The government knew that the mountain people (who became known as hill billies) were making their own moonshine from corn. Moonshine that eventually was sold to outside white people. Some “moon shiners” began making a fair living in selling moonshine. This included some of the old Cherokee people also. But the government had to stop this serious illegal activity and they sent encouraged (instigated) southern law enforcement officers to go in and smash these illegal stills. They even helped by sending government agents to assist. What had become a quiet life for the lost Cherokee people was returning to what it was like a hundred years before.

So, some of these Cherokees departed the mountains and headed into different directions, including Indiana. They traveled through Indiana looking for work, but because of the depression, work was very hard to find. Those that found work, settled, built homes, started families and just as in the mountains, they adapted and fit right in.

Soon the Cherokee were stretched from southern to northern Indiana. And here we are today, Cherokees in Indiana. Bloodline percentages have lowered, because of interracial marriages between our ancestors throughout the years, but none the less we are their descendants. The descendants who became the Cherokee people of Indiana.

Many of us have lived here for years not knowing that there were other Cherokee descendants just like ourselves...until now. The United States Census of 2000 reported that there were 14,000 people of Cherokee blood, full and part, registered and non registered, living in Indiana. That total count of 14,000 may be much less than the actual number because those counted may have been the only Cherokee that responded to the Census. Some people with Cherokee blood who have blended into the mainstream white society may no longer care that they are Cherokee so they marked “white” on the form. Some because of the old ways in which they were brought up by their parents may still today not want to be counted as an Indian. Some being part blood may think they don’t have enough blood to be considered Cherokee so they marked “white” also. Whatever the case, we are certain by the Cherokee people we have met and have joined us, there are more Cherokee living in Indiana than was counted.

If you are one of those that did not count yourself as a Cherokee in the 2000 Census, please send us an e-mail or write us and let us know how many people are in your family that have any amount of Cherokee blood. Responses will assist us in getting a much more accurate count.

Return to the table of contents.