The Cherokee Nation was an autonomous tribal government of the Cherokee people that existed from 1794 to 1907, operating first from New Echota in present-day Georgia and later from Tahlequah in Indian Territory.
In 1827 the Nation adopted a written constitution establishing legislative, executive and judicial branches — a structure affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 1832, when Worcester v. Georgia recognised the Cherokee as a “distinct political community” beyond the reach of state law. The Nation encompassed Cherokee from the southeastern United States, Old Settlers who had relocated voluntarily to Indian Territory around 1820, and those forcibly removed along the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. It also incorporated Natchez, Lenape and Shawnee peoples. Following the American Civil War, a new treaty required the Nation to emancipate its slaves and grant citizenship to Cherokee Freedmen. The Curtis Act of 1898 and the Five Civilized Tribes Act of 1906 curtailed the tribal government in preparation for Oklahoma statehood on 16 November 1907. The Cherokee reorganised during the twentieth century as the present-day Cherokee Nation, which holds federal recognition as a sovereign tribal government.
