Rebuilding a Nation: Cherokee Tribal Architecture, 1839-1907

Abstract

The Cherokee Nation was forcibly relocated from their ancestral homeland in the American southeast to Indian Territory (in what is now the State of Oklahoma) in 1839. This thesis discusses the architectural history of the administrative and institutional buildings constructed by the tribal government in the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. This analysis covers the period between 1839 to 1907, encompassing the years between the establishment of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory and the admittance of the state of Oklahoma to the Union. In this period, the Cherokee Nation engaged in a process of acculturation both socially and architecturally, selectively adapting building forms drawn from Euro-American cultural traditions. This thesis argues that the Cherokee Nation used Euro-American architectural styles to demonstrate the tribe’s ability to govern themselves according to the standards of the United States and, therefore, their right to retain political autonomy.