The Cherokee and Apache Tribes
The Cherokees, people of the cave and mountain, are also known as one of the five civilized
tribes. The Apaches were fierce warriors who were respected and despised by their enemies. These groups are two of the most well-known Southern Native American Tribes that are still around to this day. Throughout this writing piece, both of these tribes will be analyzed to see how they compare through topics such as religious beliefs, the different languages, tribe locations, and their overall style of life.
Ranging from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, and from the Ohio
River to Georgia, the Cherokees had reached an estimated 100 000 square miles at their peak.
Whereas the Apaches were traditionally located in the southwest, stretching across New Mexico,
Eastern Arizona and Northern Mexico.
The two tribes had pretty similar religious beliefs. The Apaches believed that
supernatural beings lived around them. They weren't visible, but they had faith that they were present. In the Mountains, under rocks, the spirits were everywhere in nature, according to the Apaches. Taking frequent baths was known as a technique to rid themselves of bad luck and evil spirits. The Cherokees also believed in higher beings of nature, mainly animal gods. The spirit that the Cherokee most worshipped was the Deer God. Since the Cherokees relied heavily on Sepulveda 5 on hunting deer, after being hunted, it was customary to pray to the Deer God so he'd know they appreciated the meat and didn't just kill for sport.
The Apaches and Cherokees spoke completely different languages. The Apaches spoke Athabaskan, which actually split into two different languages, Western and Eastern Apache.
Like french and Spanish, the two are closely related. Western Apache is closer to Navajo than to Eastern Apache. Chiricahua-Mescalero is considered by some people to be a dialect of the Western Apache. By others, a separate language, the three forms of Eastern Apache (Jicarilla, Lipan, and Plains Apache) are considered by some to be distinct languages and by others to be dialects of a single Eastern Apache language. On the other hand, the Cherokees spoke Cherokee, an Iroquoian language with an alphabet invented by a Native Cherokee scholar. People still speak the Cherokee language today, primarily in Oklahoma and North Carolina, since it's one of the healthier Indian languages of North America and the one in which the most literature has been published about.
Their Lifestyles differed in many ways, politically and socially. The Cherokee were a heterogeneous society, freely accepting members of other tribes. There were seven clans within the Cherokee Nation, so throughout Cherokee life, the number seven was considered to be very good. Council houses were built with seven sides and in the council, each clan sat in front of their wall. Seven chiefs, one selected by each clan, ruled ...
