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Welcome to the Keetoowah Shop
Notice: We apologize for
the inconvenience, but the Keetoowah Shop is temporarily out of
service. However, our Amazon products
or Barnes & Noble Products are
open for business.
Operated by the Georgia Tribe of Eastern
Cherokee,
a non-profit endeavor.
Click
Here to view our Barnes & Noble
products for sale.
History
of Keetoowah
In 1859, the full-blood Keetoowah organized and adopted their
first written constitution. Calling themselves the Keetoowah
Society, only full-bloods were eligible for membership. After
the Civil War, in which the Keetoowah fought for the Union against
the mixed-blood Cherokee, they became a political organizaton
that rigorously sought full-blood equality. Years later, Congress
passed the Dawes Act, dividing Indian lands into individual
parcels.
The
Keetoowah Society was in opposition to this legislation, and
in 1901, they split over a vote on the issue of land allotments.
One group was the Keetoowah Nighthawks, led by Redbird Smith.
In 1905, the Keetoowah Society Council requested and were granted
incorporation in Tahlequah. The Keetoowah Society, Inc. divided
in 1939 and formed a group who later became known as The United
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (UKB). In 1950,
the two political groups of Keetoowah merged and were federally
recognized.
