Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians - The Eastern Cherokee Indian Land Trust (Qualla Boundary)

The Eastern Cherokee Indian Land Trust (Qualla Boundary)

The Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation, officially known as the Qualla Boundary, is located at 35°31′49″N 83°16′31″W / 35.53028°N 83.27528°W / 35.53028; -83.27528 in western North Carolina, just south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The main part of the reservation lies in eastern Swain County and northern Jackson County, but smaller non-contiguous sections are located to the southwest in Cherokee County (Cheoah community) and Graham County (Snowbird community). A small part of the main reservation extends eastward into Haywood County. The total land area of these parts is 213.934 km² (82.600 sq mi), with a 2000 census resident population of 8,092 persons. The Qualla Boundary is not a reservation, but rather a "land trust" supervised by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. The land was a fragment of the extensive original homeland of the Cherokee Nation. The people had to purchase their land to regain it after it was taken over by the US government.

Today the tribe earns most of its revenue from a combination of Federal/State funds, tourism, and the Harrah's Cherokee Casino, instituted in the early 1990s.

Read more about this topic:  Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians

Famous quotes containing the words eastern, cherokee, indian, land and/or trust:

    From this elevation, just on the skirts of the clouds, we could overlook the country, west and south, for a hundred miles. There it was, the State of Maine, which we had seen on the map, but not much like that,—immeasurable forest for the sun to shine on, the eastern stuff we hear of in Massachusetts. No clearing, no house. It did not look as if a solitary traveler had cut so much as a walking-stick there.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, [the Cherokee Indians] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skins and furs as we are, and find their wants the less tolerable as they are occasioned by a war [the American Revolution] the event of which is scarcely interesting to them.
    Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

    Ha ha! ha ha! This world doth pass
    Most merrily I’ll be sworn,
    For many an honest Indian ass
    Goes for a unicorn.
    Unknown. Fara Diddle Dyno (l. 1–4)

    The shattered water made a misty din.
    Great waves looked over others coming in,
    And thought of doing something to the shore
    That water never did to land before.
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    Constant you are,
    But yet a woman, and for secrecy,
    No lady closer, for I well believe
    Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know,
    And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)