He believes that the origin of the proto-Iroquoian language was likely the Appalachian region, and the split between Northern and Southern Iroquoian languages began 4,000 years ago. Whyte, writing in 2007, dated the split among the peoples as occurring earlier. In the 19th century, James Mooney, an early American ethnographer, recorded one oral tradition that told of the tribe having migrated south in ancient times from the Great Lakes region, where other Iroquoian peoples have been based. The Cherokee language is part of the Iroquoian language group. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern North Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, edges of western South Carolina, northern Georgia and northeastern Alabama.
The Cherokee ( / ˈ tʃ ɛr ə k iː, ˌ tʃ ɛr ə ˈ k iː/ Cherokee: ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, romanized: Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ, romanized: Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States.
Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Cherokee syllabics.
This article contains Cherokee syllabic characters.
