Play at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Resort.

See the Elk In/Around Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Visit the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

READ MORE: The 25 Best Western NC Small Towns To Visit (and Live In!) Read on for our in-depth guide to all the best Cherokee attractions, which also include Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and some of our favorite Western North Carolina waterfalls and hiking trails. He also served as an intermediary between the Cherokee and the US government, ultimately purchasing much of the land that became the Qualla Boundary on their behalf.Īs a result, many of the best things to do in Cherokee NC today are related to and owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee, including the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Oconaluftee Indian Village, Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, and more.

Local merchant William Holland Thomas, a longtime ally of the Cherokee who was adopted into the tribe, became their lawyer and drew up a simple plan of self-governance. Under the leadership of Chief Yonaguska, the Qualla Cherokee separated from the authority of the Cherokee Nation in 1819. Most of the Cherokee people were forced out of the area after passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, with approximately 11,000 Cherokee people relocated from North Carolina via the tragic Trail of Tears.īut some of the indigenous people evaded capture in the Great Smoky Mountains, while others were allowed to stay due to earlier treaties. The Cherokee and their ancestors had occupied this area for centuries before the first Europeans arrived.īut once gold was discovered near modern-day Dahlonega and Helen GA in 1828, attracting thousands of settlers to the Blue Ridge region, conflict between them and the Cherokee people became increasingly common. That’s partly because most of the area lies within the Qualla Boundary, which is held as a land trust by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Cherokee, North Carolina is not like any other town we’ve ever visited during our extensive explorations of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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