At Least 36 of the 39 Signatories Are Lower Town Chickamauga
Nenetuah, or Bloody Fellow, Ostaiah, Oortlokecteh, Chockonnistaller, or Stallion, Noothoietah, Utturah, or Skin Worm, Weelee, or Will, Oolassoteh, Tlorene, Oonatakoteekee, Kanowsurhee, or Broom, Yonah Oolah, Bear at Home, Tunksalenee, or Thick Legs, Oorkullaukee, Kumamah, or Butterfly, Chattakuteehee, Kettegiskie, Tauquotihee, or the Glass, Chuquilatague, Salleekookoolah, Tallotuskee, Neekaanneah, or Woman Holder, Kulsateehee, Keetakeuskah, or Prince, Charley, Akooh, Sawanookeh, Yonahequah, or Big Bear, Keenahkunnah, Kaweesoolaskee, Teekakalohenah, Ookouseteeh, or John Taylor, Chochuchee
I do not use Chickamauga and Cherokee interchangeably. I simply refuse to include the Cherokee because they have been terminated by the Congress of the United States in 1902 and 1906 and never Re-recognized nor applied for Federal Recognition. Therefore that Tribe ceased to exist and has no rights or privileges under these treaties.
The Chickamauga spoke a dialect of the Cherokee Trade Language, but they were NOT Cherokee. The Example to prove the point is: Is a person in Mexico who speaks Spanish a Citizen of Spain? Is a Cuban who speaks Spanish a Citizen of Spain? Is a President of the United States who speaks English a Citizen of the British Crown? The same is true of those who spoke the Cherokee Trade Language, they spoke it, but they were NOT all Cherokee. The laziness of Treaty makers to put all people who spoke a language into a single people group is typical for the time.
Academically, both anthropologically and historically, it is impossible to conclude that the Chickamauga and the Cherokee are the same people. Anthropologically and historically the evidence is overwhelming that the existence of the Chickamauga people has always revolved around the Southeast Ceremonial Complex and Mound Building in the Mississippi Bottoms. Carbon dating places the (Tiscamogie) Chickamauga in the Tennessee River Valley between 600 – 800 AD – CE. With their culture and religion dating back much further.
The Jesuit priests were meticulous in keeping details of their missionary pursuits in New France. To argue the credibility of the Jesuit priests in these volumes is to argue that the Holy Roman Catholic Church’s archives are completely void of historical accuracy. The 73 volumes of The Jesuit Relation and Allied Documents: Travels and Exploration of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France from 1610 – 1791 provides indisputable evidence as to the origins of the Cherokee, their Christianization, and when they began to leave the Huron and Erie regions of the Great Lakes. The Jesuits record that the Cherokee were not strong fighters and that led to them being kicked out of the Iroquoian Confederacy in the 1660s - 1670s after the ending of the Beaver Wars.
The Cherokee did not begin to leave the Great Lakes region until well after the Beaver Wars ended in 1664 with the last surrendering in 1682. They spoke an Iroquoian language and were mostly converted to Christianity. The earliest that the Cherokee could have entered the Southeast portion of this continent would be between 1675 and 1685. It is physically impossible for the Cherokee to have the same culture, language, and religion of the Chickamauga.
As the Cherokee made their way South from the Great Lakes, they assimilated different tribes and groups of people into their body. When the Cherokee left the Huron and Erie lakes region, they had no traditional religion because they had become Christianized. They had no traditional culture because they assimilated so many different tribes and peoples into their tribe that there was no longer a traditional culture. By the time they eventually made it to the Southeast Woodlands, they were a people without a culture or religion.The anthropology associated with archaeological excavations in the Southeast does not demonstrate a discernible Iroquoian influence until the very late seventeenth and very early eighteen centuries.
There is no discernible archaeological evidence that the Iroquoian speaking, Huron and Erie people, who were already mostly Christianized ever existed in the Southeast prior to the 1670s - 1680s.
(C) This document was produced at the request of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on July 18, 2019, to document the History, Anthropology, Culture, Religion, and Archaeology of The Chickamauga Nation.