Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma

The Cherokee, or Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya (Principle People), inhabited what is now the Eastern and Southeastern United States at the time of European encroachment. Modern day Cherokee people prefer the name Tsalagi. One of the two Cherokee groups relocated to Indian Territory in Oklahoma in 1838 were to become the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

Unlike most other American Indians in the southeast, the Cherokee spoke an Iroquoian language. Since the Great Lakes region was the core of Iroquoian languages, it is theorized that the Cherokee migrated south from the Great Lakes region. Linguistic analysis shows a relatively large difference between Cherokee and the northern Iroquoian languages, suggesting a split in the distant past.

The Cherokee nation was unified from a society of interrelated city-states in the early 18th century under the "Emperor" Moytoy, with the aid of an unofficial English envoy, Sir Alexander Cuming. They were one of the tribes referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes. Most Cherokee people were forcibly moved westward to the Ozark Plateau.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Cherokee are the most numerous of the 563 federally recognized American Indian tribes in the United States.