Chapter 39 Further Reading: The Eastern Band and Indigenous Persistence — Native Appalachia Then and Now

Finger, John R. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, 1819–1900. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1984. The standard scholarly history of the Eastern Band's founding and first six decades. Finger traces the survival of the mountain Cherokee from the removal era through the establishment of the Qualla Boundary, meticulously examining the roles of Tsali, William Holland Thomas, and the Oconaluftee Citizen Indians. His treatment of the Tsali legend — distinguishing documented history from communal memory — remains essential for understanding how the Eastern Band relates to its own founding narrative.

Finger, John R. Cherokee Americans: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in the Twentieth Century. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991. The companion volume to Finger's earlier work, carrying the Eastern Band's story through the twentieth century. Finger documents the community's experience with federal Indian policy, the tourism economy, the development of tribal governance, and the social and cultural changes that transformed the Qualla Boundary from a remote mountain community into a significant economic and political entity. Essential context for understanding the pre-casino era.

Perdue, Theda, and Michael D. Green. The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears. New York: Viking, 2007. A concise, authoritative history of Cherokee removal that places the Trail of Tears in the context of Cherokee political history, federal Indian policy, and the territorial ambitions of the state of Georgia. Perdue and Green's treatment of the political divisions within the Cherokee Nation — between the Treaty Party and the National Party — provides essential background for understanding how removal was accomplished and why some Cherokee remained in the East.

Duncan, Barbara R., and Brett H. Riggs. Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003. A guidebook to Cherokee historical sites in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northern Georgia, written in collaboration with the Eastern Band and the Cherokee Nation. The book connects physical landscapes to Cherokee history, making it possible to visit the actual places where the events described in this chapter occurred — the Kituwah Mound, the Oconaluftee Valley, the routes of the Trail of Tears. An invaluable resource for connecting textbook knowledge to geographic reality.

Neely, Sharlotte. Snowbird Cherokees: People of Persistence. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991. An ethnographic study of the Snowbird community — a geographically separate group within the Eastern Band, located in Graham County, North Carolina, away from the main Qualla Boundary. Neely documents how the Snowbird Cherokee maintained their language, traditions, and community identity in relative isolation, providing a counterpoint to the more visible (and more tourist-oriented) Cherokee community on the main Boundary.

Cattelino, Jessica R. High Stakes: Florida Seminole Gaming and Sovereignty. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. While focused on the Seminole Tribe of Florida rather than the EBCI, Cattelino's ethnographic study of tribal gaming and sovereignty provides essential theoretical context for understanding the casino's role in Cherokee self-determination. Her analysis of the relationship between economic independence and political sovereignty — and the tensions that arise when commercial success complicates cultural identity — applies directly to the EBCI's experience.

Cook, Samuel R. Monacans and Miners: Native American and Coal Mining Communities in Appalachia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. A groundbreaking study that places Indigenous Appalachian communities — particularly the Monacan Indian Nation of Virginia — in the context of the industrial transformation that reshaped the region. Cook documents how Native communities navigated the same economic forces that affected other Appalachian communities while simultaneously fighting for recognition of their Indigenous identity against state-imposed racial classifications.

Bates, Denise E. The Other Movement: Indian Rights and Civil Rights in the Deep South. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2012. Bates explores the intersection of Indigenous rights and civil rights movements in the American South, documenting how Indigenous communities navigated the racial binary (white/colored) that southern states imposed. Her work provides broader context for understanding the Monacan experience and the challenges faced by Indigenous people in a region where racial identity was defined, classified, and enforced by state power.

Wachacha, Myrtle Driver, and Barbara R. Duncan, eds. Living Stories of the Cherokee. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. A collection of Cherokee oral narratives recorded from Eastern Band citizens, preserving stories that illuminate Cherokee worldview, values, and historical memory. The collection demonstrates that Cherokee oral tradition is not a relic of the past but a living practice that continues to shape how the community understands itself and its history.

Smithers, Gregory D. The Cherokee Diaspora: An Indigenous History of Migration, Resettlement, and Identity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015. Smithers traces the full scope of Cherokee dispersal — not just the Trail of Tears but the centuries of migration, displacement, and resettlement that scattered Cherokee people across the continent. His work provides essential context for understanding the Eastern Band as one of several Cherokee communities, each with its own history and identity, connected by language, kinship, and cultural memory.

Light, Steven Andrew, and Kathryn R.L. Rand. Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005. A comprehensive analysis of the legal, political, and economic dimensions of tribal gaming in the United States. Light and Rand examine the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the negotiations between tribes and states, and the broader implications of gaming for tribal sovereignty. Their balanced treatment of both the benefits and costs of tribal gaming provides essential context for evaluating the EBCI's casino experience.

Appalachian Regional Commission. Annual Reports and Data Reports. Various years. Available at arc.gov. The ARC's data publications provide quantitative context for understanding the economic conditions on the Qualla Boundary relative to the surrounding Appalachian region. County-level data on income, employment, education, and health outcomes allow comparison between the EBCI community and neighboring non-tribal communities.