The Culture Transformation Of Cherokee: 1791-1838

Cherokee is one of American Indians in northeast of Oklahoma. He was forced to move to where she is from southeastern America in 1830s as other Indians. The reason why he aroused so many scholars'attention mainly is that she assimilated the culture of Whiteman and became flourished in the early thirty years of nineteen century. But it was not last long. As he was forced to west in 1838, the cultural transformation broke off. Although had been changed a lot as white man'request, Cherokee was still forced to moved to west, people cannot help asking why. Was it the result of cultural transformation or the destiny of history? This dissertation attempt to review the history of Cherokee cultural transformation and point out that it is Whiteman'pursuit of earth and interest which aroused by the development of market economy that led to the eclipse of Cherokee.Therefore, this dissertation is divided into three parts to discuss the Cherokee culture, cultural transformation, the reason and influence of cultural transformation. In the first part, I introduced the origin of Cherokee and pictured the culture before his contact with Whiteman in aspects of physical, institutional and spiritual in order to point out that Cherokee had a self-sufficient and free lifestyle at that time. After the mid of 16 century, the Cherokee and Whiteman contacted frequently. Owing to the differences between the two culture them, they conflicted fiercely. The Cherokee who fell behind deeply attracted by the advanced culture of Whiteman, cultural transformation happened secretly. In 1791, they signed"Treaty of Holston", which symbolized the"perpetual peace"of each other, the cultural transformation of Cherokee speeded up. They followed the living style of white man, practiced slavery, invented the syllabary of his own and published a bilingual newspaper, established a autonomous government after the models of the United State, instituted a written constitution, even some people converted to Christianity. Therefore, Cherokee was awarded as one of the"Five Civilized Tribes"in southeast of America. This process ended in 1838 when"Trail of Tears"happened. The second part I discussed the contents above.It is not wrong the cultural transformation itself, but the result afford for thought. In the last part of this dissertation, I analyzed the reason and influences of cultural transformation. I think the transformation of Cherokee culture not only attributed to his adoptable character especially the effect of mixed bloods, but the"Civilization"policy of the United States. The results were the more confliction and partition inside the tribe than"Civilization". This indicated that eclipse of Cherokee culture is his destiny when he involved in the development of Capitalism.