It includes people descended from members of the Old Cherokee Nation who relocated, due to increasing pressure, from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who were forced to relocate on the Trail of Tears. The tribe also includes descendants of Cherokee Freedmen and Natchez Nation. As of , over , people were enrolled in the Cherokee Nation. Headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma , the Cherokee Nation has a reservation spanning 14 counties in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma.
In exchange, the Cherokee Nation and the other four of the Five Civilized Tribes gave the United States parts of its western territory that were then organized into Oklahoma Territory. Unlike most reservations, the Cherokee Nation owned fee simple title to its lands, and they were not held in trust by the United States.
While the General Allotment Act had exceptions for the Five Tribes, later acts forced the Cherokee Nation to allot its reservation to members. In , Congress enacted the Five Tribes Act which contemplated the dissolution of tribes, but also included a clause stating "the tribal existence and present tribal governments of [the Five Tribes] are hereby continued in full force and effect for all purposes authorized by law.
After the near dissolution of the tribal government of the Cherokee Nation in the s and the death of William Charles Rogers in , the Federal government began to appoint chiefs to the Cherokee Nation in The service time for each appointed chief was so brief that it became known as "Chief for a Day".
Six men fell under this category, the first being A. Cunningham, who served from November 8 to November In the s, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration worked to improve conditions by supporting the Indian Reorganization Act of , which encouraged tribes to reconstitute their governments and write constitutions.
