© Copyright 2017 New-York Historical Society N balance .It wasdifferent from thewhite considered essential andtherefore in were clearandseparate, butbothwere men were hunters .Thegender roles of labor:womenwere farmers,and was reinforced by thetraditionaldivision power,gave womenimportant which passed through themother’s line.This Cherokee societywasmatrilineal:kinship trader Bryant Ward inthelate1750s. as Nancy Ward aftershemarriedEnglish Beloved Woman ofChota,andknown warriors themselves .She wascalledthe food forthewarriors,orhadfoughtas traditionally femaleways,suchaspreparing in war parties women whohadsupported could receive, andwasusuallygiven to only titleofhonoraCherokee woman Woman, or War Woman .It wasthe and leadership, shewasnamedaBeloved Georgiain northwest .For hercourage thatexpandedCherokee lands to avictory raised hisrifleandledthewarriorsherself husband, andwhenhewaskilled,she Indians .Nanyehi foughtalongsideher 1755, theCherokees raidedtheCreek and themotheroftwochildren .That year, By theageof17,Nanyehi wasmarried and shebecameoneherself related Cherokee leaders, toimportant eastern Tennessee .She wasclosely located inwhatisnow Cherokees, whichwas the “mother town” ofthe anyehi wasborninChota, . Henry Timberlake, Nancy Ward(Nanyehi) A Draught, 1765.Ink oftheCherokee onpaper Country Life Story .Museum ofEarlySouthern Decorative 5549 . Arts, 1738–1822 Saving Washington: The NewRepublic andEarlyReformers, 1790–1860 allied withtheBritish duringthewar Revolution, even thoughtheCherokees prisoners takenduringtheAmerican burned atthestake.She alsofreed Patriot saved acaptured whitewomanabouttobe death ofayoung boy, butshereportedly Nancy Ward permittedthetorture and prisoners afterraidingawhitesettlement. and vengeance .In 1776,Cherokees took was responsible fordecisionsaboutjustice Like Beloved Women ofothervillages,she and wastheleaderof Women’s Council. members oftheCherokee General Council, Ward wastheonlyfemaleamongvoting considerable politicalinfluence.Nancy however, continued tohave andtousetheir oftheirdomain.Belovedpart Women, becausetradeandwarwereimportant Cherokee men’s roles becamemore and whitesincreased through the1700s, As tradeandconflictbetween Indians at thetopandwomenregarded asinferior European ofasexhierarchy, view withmen this happen.“Letyour women’s sonsbe women onthe two sidescouldmake one people,andshethoughtonly the if Indians andwhitessawthemselves as She believed thatpeacewouldcomeonly after settlersattackedCherokee towns . addressed theU.Streaty commissioners the assembledwhitemen.In 1781,she Ward wasoftenpresent, tothesurpriseof Cherokees metwithU.Sofficials, Nancy meetingswithwhites . important When the B eloved Women asnegotiatorsin served

. . © Copyright 2017 New-York Historical Society A that whitesroutinely ignored . and settlers,thesigningoftreaties So didskirmishesbetween Cherokees land illegally, buttheseizures continued. tried toprevent statesfrom seizingthe George Washington’sadministration prime land,idealforgrowing cotton. much oftheAmericanSoutheast .It was Cherokee territory, whichoccupied and more andmore settlersmoved into America’s whitepopulation grew quickly, In theyears aftertheRevolution, because headvocated armedresistance . Dragging Canoe,wasandisahero tomany a traitor, andstilldotoday some Cherokees atthetimeconsidered her and forgettingalongwithwhitepeople, our words . commissioners .“Letyour womenhear ours; oursonsbeyours,” shesaidtothe eager tolive beyond the reach of white west ontheirown, manytoArkansas, selling landandrelocating, butsomemoved the Cherokee people.Most were against whites.Theissuedivided land-hungry the Cherokees feltconstantpressure from idea tookroot inAmericanthinking,and west .Thatswapdidnothappen,butthe forlandfarther exchange theirterritory that thelocalnative populationmight Purchase, Thomas Jefferson suggested a matteroftime.During theLouisiana the Southeast entirely day theCherokees wouldbegonefrom mericans begantoexpectthatone ” Because shearguedforpeace, .It seemedonly .Her cousin, I state governments orindividualsettlers. encroachment .Others soldlandtothe people inthe Trail of Tears, 1838–39 . land, andbefore theforced march ofher removal oftheCherokees from their Andrew Jackson allbutguaranteedthe three years later, before theelectionof included Chota.Nancy Ward died oftheCherokee Nationportion that the U.Sgovernment purchased alarge But thelandsalescontinued.In 1819, withanymoreyou nottopart of our land. . Your mothers,your sistersaskandbegof has becomecircumscribed toasmalltrack. once beenextensive, butby repeated sales have . We has know thatourcountry raised allofyou onthelandwhichwe now address you warriorsincouncil. We have and headmenoftheCherokee Nation, we and granddaughter:“Our beloved children twelve other women, including her daughter with herwrittenplea,whichwassignedby it inperson.She sentherson,Five Killer, known speech, but was too unwell to deliver Ward, nearly80years old,madeherlast- what remained ofCherokee land.Nancy urged theNational Counciltoholdon 2, 1817,theCherokee Women’s Council the signers.Againstthisbackdrop, onMay the actionastreason, andmoved toarrest The Cherokee National Councilviewed Alabama inexchange forlandinArkansas . oflandin that gave awayalargeportion known asthe“lower towns” signedatreaty n 1816,Cherokee leadersinanarea Nancy Ward(Nanyehi) Life Story ” (Boston: Bedford/St .Martin’s, 2016) . The Cherokee Removal: A with Brief Documents, rev History (Lincoln, NE:University ofNebraska Press, 1998);Theda Purdue, Purdue, deliver/~hou01467 (accessedby M. Waters, 10-18-2016);Theda College Library, http://oasis.lib Foreign Missions archives, 1810–1961,Houghton Library, Harvard 10-18-2016); Guide, AmericanBoard ofCommissionersfor ABriefHistoryoftheTrailofTears .aspx(accessedby M. Waters, cherokee .org/AboutTheNation/History/TrailofTears/ Tears,” Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center, http://www University of Tennessee Press, 2005);“A Brief Historyofthe Trail of Cultural Persistence(Knoxville, TN: inTheir Lettersand Speeches Sources: ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ action didshetake? Cherokee land tostategovernments? What How didNancy Ward feelaboutthesaleof Cherokee and theAmericangovernment? women inthepeacetalksbetween the What role didNancy Ward envisionfor Nancy Ward earnthistitle? Cherokee Beloved Woman? How did What were theresponsibilities ofa European genderroles? How didCherokee genderroles differfrom Cherokee Women: Gender andCulture Change,1700–1835 Virginia Moore Carney, Eastern Band Cherokee Women: Discussion Questions 1738–1822 .harvard .edu/oasis/ continued .ed

. Saving Washington: The NewRepublic andEarlyReformers, 1790–1860