Early Cherokee Government 

By A D. 1600. Cherokee government was already highly developed for an Indian tribe, although
some other southeastern tribes, such as the Natchez and the Creek, had similar approaches in
their manner of rule. It is here that we begin to see the true greatness of the Cherokee
Nation and experience the heights it had attained. It is here that the Cherokees stand out
from the rest, and where we see another facet of their personality that made rapid change
possible for them. In their enlightened system of government we find a concern for individual
freedom and human rights, a sense of shared responsibility and an awareness of consequences
for acts that mark the best of both democratic and republican control. It was these qualities
that opened them up to the adoption of the like principles they encountered in the fledgling
federal government of the Americans.

The National Heptagon

In the national capital and situated on a high mound was a huge heptagon, or seven-sided
building, at which all national festivals were celebrated, where major war parties assembled
before going off to war, and from which a measure of control was dispensed to the entire
nation, Contrasted with this were the smaller individual town council houses, which served an
average town population of 350 people. As mentioned earlier, the town council house was a
circular building, although the members of each of the seven clans sat in it in individual
places, so that the interior arrangement was, in a sense, seven sided.1 Directly behind both
the heptagon and the town council house was a round storage building with a cone-shaped roof,
sometimes called the treasure house, where some of the important tribal items were kept1 and
where foodstuffs for the festivals were temporarily stored. I have not found in the
literature a diagram of a seven-sided, or heptagonal structure, although there is a recreated
small version of one at the Oconoluftee village Cherokee, North Carolina. One author states
that in ancient days the town council house had seven sides, one for each of the seven clans,
and by the middle of the eighteenth century the town house had become rounded, although the
symbolism of seven remained. But while the idea is reasonable, no source is cited for it.

It is just as probable that the national heptagon was the only seven-sided building in the
nation, and that all town council houses were from the beginning circular in shape. I can
think of no reason why they should be changed from seven-sided to circular.

It is regrettable that early traders paid little attention to Cherokee arts and gave few
descriptions of them, Yet what can justifiably be called fine arts were broadly and
competently practiced by all Indian tribes, and the nature of the Cherokee people was surely
such that similar fine arts were practiced among them. We find some hints of these in the
descriptions of the clothing and a few other things they manufactured, and we find more hints
in their civic-religious architecture. By this latter term I mean the principal building in
each town that served both civic and religious purposes.


Town Council Houses

The average town council house was fifty feet in diameter, sat on a mound, and except for its
circular shape was constructed in the same manner as the national heptagon. The central
portion of the room was held up by seven large posts set in a circle half as broad as the
building's diameter and connected by wall plates. One end of each of seven slanting beams was
laid on top of the wall plates where they joined the posts, and the other ends met and
crossed over one another, tipi style; at the roof peak. Log beams connected the wall plates
and the outside wall, and the finished roof was cone shaped. The side walls were covered with
grass thatching, and the grass was covered with clay, then more thatch, and with this durable
plating was rainproof The roof logs were covered with a layer of saplings and then successive
tiers of bark shingles, and a smoke vent was left in its center where the logs crossed. On
the east side was an entrance door with a portico to shield it in bad weather On the interior
was the centrally placed sacred fire that always burned. A storage place for the sacred ark
was on the west side along with storage shelves for sacred items. Several concentric rows of
seats along the wall provided places for the lesser officers and the clans to sit. Closer to
the sacred fire were the seats and bed like ottomans for the chief officers. The high backs
of the latter shielded the storage area from public view, and at the front corners of the
seats were five- or six-foot-high upright boards that had carved into them the representation
of a full moon and four quarter moons. These carvings were painted with chalky white clay,
and on certain occasions black paintings were intermixed with them. James Adair saw a number
of what he calls "the Indian synhedria," but as usual he does not distinguish one from the
other. All of them are described as having esoteric features that lent a lavish tone to their
interiors, yet he sets forth conflicting details regarding what lie refers to as "the
imperial seats." Consequently, I take the liberty of attaching the more opulent items he
mentions to the national heptagon, and the less opulent to the town council houses. If this
is not correct, how, apart from size, would the capitol building be distinguished from the
rest?

At the front corners of the three white imperial seats in the national heptagon - each of
which was seven feet broad and nine feet long - were white-painted eagles carved of poplar
wood, with their wings stretched out, and raised five or so feet off the ground on top of
deep-notched boards. On the faces of each of these boards were painted with a chalky white
clay the figures of a mountain lion and a man wearing buffalo horns. The latter emblem was a
reminder of the fact that every war leader must make three successful war campaigns with the
holy ark before he was permitted to wear a pair of a young buffalo bull's horns on the front
of his headband, before he could sing the triumphal war song, and before he could dance and
sing with a buffalo's tail attached to his belt and sticking up behind him. The eagle was to
remind people of the divine attributes the Great High Priest inherited at the time of his
installation, and which were retained by his constant prayers and sacrifices. Each of these
sacred emblems was painted anew at the annual fruit offering for the expiation of sins.

A dual form of Government as previously mentioned, the ancient Cherokees lived in an
alternating state of war and peace which called for a dual organization of tribal government:
a white, or peace, organization, and a red, or war, organization.

The white organization consisted of a set of officials aged fifty or more, a large portion of
whom were priests, and who performed both secular and religious functions. They ranged in
authority from the Great High Priest, whose Cherokee name was "Uku," down to lesser officials
needed to carry on the minor functions of state. The Great high Priest had a principal
assistant, a great speaker, and seven counselors representing the seven clans, whom he
consulted on all matters of importance. The rules that governed the induction of these men
into office, their dress, and marriage were similar to those governing his own. It was this
group of officials that helped him determine the times of the national feasts and made
arrangements for them. In every town of considerable size, there was a court consisting of a
priest, his principal assistant, his speaker, and seven counselors. They decided all matters
of lesser importance and attended to such religious ceremonies as were proper for individual
towns to observe. In smaller villages or hamlets where no such court existed, the people
called upon neighboring priests to assist them as circumstances required.

In addition to administering civil law, white officials alone owned the prayers for invoking
blessings from sun, moon, and other protective spirits who, assuming it was the will of the
powers who dwelt above, could prevent or take away illness, wounds, and even death. White
officials could remove the uncleanness from polluted persons and restore them to normal life.
White officials and their belongings were sacred and not like ordinary citizens. We are told
that in some instances they were not subject to ordinary laws and usages, but not what those
instances were.

The red organization consisted of a set of officials who corresponded in rank and duties to
the white officials, except that their function was exclusively military. If either of the
two organizations was in any way subordinate to the other, it was the red group, since the
Great High Priest could make or unmake the war chiefs. In addition, the red officials were at
frequent intervals elected by popular vote, while the white officials were either to some
extent hereditary or subject to appointment by the Great High Priest. White chieftainships
could be transmitted, like clan membership, only in the female line. The son of a chief could
never inherit his position and power and was not regarded as of royal blood or even next of
kin to his father. Instead, the chief's position went to the son of the chief's oldest sister

In most instances, red officials acquired their rank as the result of bravery in battle and
were surnamed either Raven, Wolf, Fox, or Owl, since those were the foremost symbols of
cleverness and bravery. Red officials were honored with victory and scalp dances and sat in
places of honor in the town council houses. Since war was an act of killing and involved
blood as a polluting agent, many of the ritual acts associated with war were designed to deal
with and to remove the effects of uncleanness. Purification was always required after a
battle, and divination with crystals and sacrifice to the fire were a standard part of every
war expedition.

Like the national capital, each town was governed by its two head chiefs - the white chief in
peacetime and the red chief in wan The one exception had to do with those occasions when the
nation was being attacked and the white chief took control, which will be explained shortly.
The interior seating arrangements of the town council house differed according to who was in
control, and Payne's diagrams for them have been redrawn here. Whichever of the head chiefs
was in power occupied the central ottoman in the west half of the town council house, and
when the red chief ruled he sat closer even than the white chief to the sacred fire.

An assemblage of Beloved Women, also called "Pretty Women" or "War Women," was present at
every war council. These served as counselors to the male leaders, and also regulated the
treatment dealt to prisoners of war. One of the Beloved Women in historical times was Nancy
Ward, and the inspiring story of her life is recounted in Chapter Ten.

The white Organization The principal officers in the white, or peace, organization were as
follows, with categories one through five and ten being members of the priestly caste:  The
chief of the tribe, or Great Nigh Priest, who is variously called Uku, Ookah, and other
ceremonial titles.

2. Ulo ti, the chief's principal assistant, also called right-hand man" or "the one who
fanned him." 3. Ti nv Ii no he ski, the seven counselors who represented the seven clans. 4.
A tsi nv sti, the chief's messenger. 4.   Ti kv no tsr Ii ski, the chief speaker 5.   The
council of cider, or beloved, men. 6.   The Beloved, or Pretty, or War, Women. 7.   A keyvgv
sta, the women who warmed water to wash the chief. 8.   Lesser officers requited for specific
ceremonies included: seven hunters- seven cooks, seven overseers, seven fire makers, seven
cleansers, musicians, attendants at the Ookah dance, and the Yo wah hymn singer 9.  Nv no hi
ta hi, the priest who superintended the building of the hothouse.

The above officials served in the national capital and as officials for the entire tribe. But
with the exception of those listed in category nine, since most of the ceremonies requiring
these were held at the national heptagon, in each of the larger towns of the tribe the same
series of officials was repeated Also, while the officials in all of the towns outside the
capital were subject to the will of the Great High Chief and his seven counselors, they were
often incorporated with them in a governing group when grave decisions confronted the tribe.

On festival occasions, the Uku was clothed in a sleeveless white waistcoat and wore a broad
woven belt. As soon as he entered the heptagon to begin his duties, a beloved attendant
spread out on the Uku white seat a white dressed buckskin and a soft buffalo or bear robe,
and placed on top of them beautiful white beads that were a gift from the people. Then the
Uku wrapped around his shoulders in shawl fashion a consecrated deerskin that was also
whitened. This he tied on by knotting together the legs of the skin, tying them in such a way
that the legs formed an X on his chest. He al50 wore a new pair of whitened buckskin
moccasins he had made and stitched together with deer sinew. The top portion above the toes
he painted, for the space of three inches, with a few streaks of red - not vermillion, for
this was a war color   but with a certain red root whose leaves and stalk resembled the
ipecacuanha, which was one of the principal symbols for holy things. To the upper part of the
moccasins were fastened tufts of blunted wild turkey-cock spurs. Between festivals, the
moccasins were stored on the shelves with other consecrated things. The festival costume of
the Uku included a magnificent cape made of white feathers and a breastplate made of a white
conch shell with two holes bored in the middle of it, through which were passed the ends of
an otter-skin neck strap that had a single white buck-horn button fastened to it on each
side. His headband was either a wreath of swan feathers or a long piece of swan skin, doubled
so that only the fine snowy feathers appeared on each side. Topping this was a cap covered
with upright white feathers whose ends curved over and hung down. Other priests also had
white festival costumes, but these are only alluded to by informants and are not sufficiently
described to reconstruct them other than by conjecture. For regular year-round duties, the
Great High Priest and the town priests wore chalked, perfectly white deerskin shirts that
reached halfway down the thighs, and also breeches made from two aprons, one before and one
behind, that were fastened above the hips with a belt, and extended down about halfway to the
knees. The aprons were tied at the sides with thongs and then drawn together and tied to form
a crotch. Worn over the shirt and breeches was a sleeved coat whose hem came nearly to their
feet. It had woven, epaulet-type pieces on both shoulders of the Uku garment and on one
shoulder of the coats worn by other priests. Bells were attached to the coat cuffs. The trim
rolls of the coats were of the same white deerskin, having fringes and tassels that hung down
to the knees. White leggings were worn In the winter, and the garters and moccasins that were
always worn were also white. Bells were attached ro the garters. The cap of the Great High
Priest was conical and made from the skins of the underside of deer tails that were dressed
with the hair on. Enough of these skins was sewn together to make the cap. This hair was
perfectly white and lay close to the skin so that it pointed upward on the cap. Bells were
fastened to the back of the cap, and long, upright white feathers were attached to the top of
the cap in such a way as to curve gracefully over and hang down on all sides. Although we
have no specific information about them, we can assume that the principal assistant and the
chief speaker had differently adorned but similarly shaped hats that were covered with
swansdown feathers arid topped with feathers that were a little shorter thai) those worn by
the Great High Priest. All priests had spectacular ritual pipes, which were about three feet
long and had whitened wooden stems and stone bowls carved with symbolic figures appropriate
to their offices.

The wives of the priests also had a distinguishing dress. This consisted of a short gown and
petticoat fashioned from clay-whitened deerskin. The petticoat came nearly to the ankles, and
at knee level had a row of bells that encircled it. Their moccasins were white and made like
Indian boots whose tops came halfway to the knee, They also wore hide headbands to which were
fastened, as badges of honor, animal horns that were about three inches long. Their jewelry
was the same as that worn by other women of distinction.

The Uku Consecration Ceremony:

The consecration ceremony for a new Uku gives us good insights into the nature of the office
and the extravagance that surrounded it. On the death of the presiding Uku, his principal
assistant set a date for the consecration of his successor, who would already have been
chosen and trained. A messenger was dispatched to notify the chief priests throughout the
nation. He was given a special string of braided wild hemp with as many knots tied in it as
there were nights prior to the appointed date. Each day the messenger traveled, he was to cut
one knot from his string and thus would keep a precise account of the time. He followed a
direct course that took him to the central towns of each region, and once the news had been
passed to the priests of those towns, they had the responsibility of notifying others until
the entire nation was informed.

At the appointed time, the nation's priests assembled with their messengers at the national
heptagon and sent these messengers en masse to the candi4ate to request that he accept the
office of Uku. For decorum's sake, the messengers were to pretend that the new leader, when
actually faced with the decision, would be modest and need encouragement and persuasion. The
fact was that he was more than ready to undertake the responsibility, and everyone knew it.
When the messengers returned and the priests were assured that the candidate would comply
with the request and had begun a six-day fast, the priests used those six days to make a
special platform of tall and strong reeds, an official Uku investiture costume, and a yellow
painted scepter Then, on the seventh day, the priests, along with a vast multitude, went to
the candidate's house.

Previously selected persons dressed and carefully bathed the candidate, for he must be
absolutely clean when his official clothing was put on him. Then he was dressed in the
installation garments of the Uku, and his face was anointed with sacred white paint. The
installation garments were exactly like the Uku's white festival dress, except they were of
deerskin painted yellow, as were even the feathers of the cap.

The platform was brought to the candidate's house, and to affirm his enthusiasm for the job,
he leaped onto it and stood upright, taking the yellow scepter in his right hand. Four chosen
men then lifted the platform on their shoulders and carried the candidate to the national
heptagon, with half of the assembled priests walking in front and the other half behind, all
singing. The procession halted three times on the way When they arrived at the heptagon
everyone drew silent, and the people fled in and sat down. The procession of priests bearing
the candidate walked silently around the heptagon four times and then lowered the platform to
within three feet of the ground, whereupon the candidate climbed onto the back of an
appointed person and in this ungainly manner was carried into the heptagon, where he was
placed on the previously prepared and centrally located white seat, or ottoman. The seat had
already been covered with a white dressed deerskin, and for the candidate's feet there was a
footrest of cane covered with a large buckskin that was dressed white. The other priests
seated themselves in prescribed order on white seats that were arranged in a semi-circle,
with the most distinguished sitting nearest to the candidate.

The candidate stood up, and except for his breechclout, his clothes were removed by another
priest. The principal assistant dipped the forefinger of his right hand into a thick ointment
made of white clay and deer tallow. He approached the candidate and, placing his finger on
the candidate's head, drew a white line that passed down over his forehead, nose, and chin,
and ended on the center of his chest. The assistant then took more ointment and made a line
from the top of the candidate's head to the middle of his back. A third line began on the
candidate's right thumbnail and ran up the arm to the shoulder and then to the chest. From
there, another line was drawn down the abdomen and right leg to the big toenail on the right
foot. Finally, the painting was completed by drawing similar lines on the left arm, chest,
abdomen, and leg.

Next, the principal assistant presented the candidate with an eagle-tail fan, old sacred
tobacco, and a sacred pipe, which was the signal for the candidate to commence smoking with
the other priests as a token of friendship and loyalty. But this was not done in the usual
manner of handing the pipe from one man to the other. Each priest smoked his own pipe, for
the candidate's pipe, since he was being transformed into the Uku, was peculiarly sacred, as
were his attire, seat, and other paraphernalia. Once this rite ended, his pipe and his bag
for keeping his tobacco were hung on pegs on the left side of the upright white planks that
formed the back of his seat.

At this point the chief speaker came forward and made a lengthy address in which he directed
everyone to pay homage to the new Uku, and the people arose and in single file came to do
this, bowing before the Uku and saying, "Tsa gu Wi tso La," to which he replied, "Ho!" Wen
everyone had returned to their seats, they sat in silence for the rest  of the night and
contemplated the significance of the event, the people no doubt praying for divine blessings
upon the new ruler and at the same time assuring themselves they would have good success and
happiness during his reign. Just before daybreak, the new Uku broke the silence with an
address to the people in which he promised to exercise his authority jn all respects
according to the commands of God. When he finished, the people answered in unison as they
promised to obey him. Then the candidate was dressed again in his official garments.

About noon, the young people withdrew from the assembly, and the Uku stood up and placed his
scepter over his right shoulder With two men putting, in a symbolic gesture of loyalty, their
hands under his arms to support him, he walked to the door of the heptagon and from there to
his house, where his yellow installation garments were removed and stored away. His common
dress was put on, and the ointment was washed from his face. The installation ritual was
completed.

In addition to his special costume, the Uku had a standard, or flag, which consisted of a
long white pole with a carved eagle on top and bearing a pennant made of white cloth or
deerskin, four or five yards long, painted with red spots like stars. In instances of great
emergency, such as a sudden attack from without, the standard was raised in front of the
national heptagon, and the national council would, after assembling for divination with
tobacco smoke to learn the nature and extent of the emergency, select those individuals from
the overall domain that would be needed to play the key roles in assisting the Great War
Chief in defense.

The Cherokee People : The Story of the Cherokees from Earliest Origins to Contemporary
Times by Thomas E. Mails, 1992 

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