Long
before Columbus discovered the New World or Spanish explorer Hernando deSoto first set
foot in the Great Smoky Mountains, the Cherokee ruled over a nation that covered more than
135,000 square miles. The vast territorial holdings
were only surpassed by the depth of their culture and heritage that dates back countless
generations.
Among all the North American tribes, the Cherokee had the
first written language and even published their own newspaper. They were inventive and
creative. They revered nature and its beauty and expressed it through the art of handmade
crafts.
In 1838 their entire civilization was threatened when they
were rounded up, corralled and forced to march 1200 miles to an unknown land called the
Oklahoma Territory.
A Few Cherokee people hid deep in the "Land of a
Thousand Smokes" and escaped the tragic "trails of Tears." Those who
remained, and few that returned, are known as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian, the
heirs to an ancient culture and the custodians of the Cherokee art of Craftmaking.
The Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual is primarily responsible
for keeping alive the arts and crafts of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian, and has
long been recognized as the most outstanding Indian owned and operated arts and crafts
cooperative in America.
