Open the Cherokee Census GIS page. The basemap is from an Atlas of the United States prepared by H.S. Tanner in 1835, the same year the Cherokee census was taken. Data from the census is overlaid on top of the map. You can also check to open layers showing the location of church missions to the Cherokee and the extent of gold mining in the Cherokee territory. Detailed census information is recorded in a table beneath the map. Select one of the entries in the table. Notice that the location of the Cherokee household you selected is indicated on the map.
What you have is a random sample from the 1835 census that represents approximately 10% of the total. Move the slider at the bottom of the table and examine the categories of information that were included. A table in the Cherokee Census worksheet gives a detailed description of each category of data. Please understand that the locations of the Cherokee households on the map are approximate - most often to the creek indicated in the census document.
Names were often given in honor of personal accomplishments or existing character traits or traits that were valued. Scroll down the census list and study the translated Cherokee names. In general, what do they say about the individuals and culture of the people who gave them? Do you find any notable exceptions?
You can "query" the census. For example, if you want to know about farm ownership among the Cherokee set up a query to determine the number of households that reported more then zero farms and click the Query button:
Google Maps
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• You can also query to find the intersection of two of the census characteristics. For example, you could identify the Cherokee households where there were Whites by Marriage AND where there were English Readers:
• Click 
• The resulting map and table shows that there were 5 such households.
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The map and table will show just those households that satisfy the conditions of the query. Notice the averages at the bottom of the table. The average Cherokee household consisted of 1.17 farms. There were exceptions - one family owning 13 farms - but they were well outside the norm. For this reason it is often a good idea to sort the data on the characteristic in which you are interested. In this case just click on the Farms heading in the table. You can quickly see that the most common, or modal value, of farm ownership is 1 farm.
You can also make pie graphs of selected values in the census. For example, you can look at the extent of farm ownership as pictured at right.
To Start You Thinking -
1) Examine the location of Cherokee home sites in the map carefully. What common geographic feature do most share?
2) Use the Distance button and measure how far it is from the census location near Blountsville, Alabama to the most extreme eastern Cherokee household on the map.
3) As mentioned, the sample you are working with is about 10% of the total. Approximately how many Cherokee were counted in the complete census?
4) As the census suggests, some Cherokee owned slaves. What was the average number of slaves owned by Cherokee families?
5) What does the data in the census tell you about the Cherokee as farmers? Use statistics from the file to support your observations.
6) Continue your exploration of the census by completing the Cherokee Census worksheet.
