Qualla Boundary
The Qualla Boundary (or The Qualla) is the territory where the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reside in western North Carolina.
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[edit] Location
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The main part of the Qualla Boundary lies in eastern Swain County and northern Jackson County (just south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park). There are many smaller non-contiguous sections to the southwest in Cherokee County and Graham County in North Carolina. A small part of the main reservation extends eastward into Haywood County. The total land area of these parts is 213.934 km² (82.6 sq mi), with a 2000 census resident population of 8,092 people.
The Qualla Boundary is located at 35°31′49″N 83°16′31″W / 35.53028°N 83.27528°W.
[edit] History
The Qualla Boundary was first surveyed in 1876 by M.S. Temple under the auspices of the United States Land Office. These pieces were embodied in a map published as the "Map of the Qualla Indian reserve."
The Qualla Boundary is not a reservation, but rather a "land trust" supervised by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. The land itself is just a fragment of the extensive historical homeland of the Cherokee, and was considered part of the original Cherokee Nation for a time. Many of the original Native American inhabitants had to purchase their own land back after it had been confiscated by the U.S. government.
The Qualla Boundary was considered a reservation as recently as 1975. A United States Department of Interior sign, entitled "Qualla Indian Reservaton," reads, accordingly:
| “ | The Cherokee domain once extended far beyond the distant mountains, but the white man, with broken treaties and fruitless promises, brought trouble to the Indians and caused their banishment to an Oklahoma reservation. A few escaped capture and fled into the Great Smokies, eventually forming the Eastern Band that now lives on the Qualla Reservation in the valley below. | ” |
Much of Disney's 5-part television series, Davy Crockett (starring Fess Parker), was shot here in the mid-1950s .
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Eastern Cherokee Reservation, North Carolina United States Census Bureau
- Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokees of North Carolina, by Thomas Donaldson, 1892, 11th Census of the United States, Robert P. Porter, Superintendent, US Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Published online at Eastern Band of Cherokees of North Carolina. Retrieved on 2009-01-08
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