PARADIGMS OF BEHAVIOR: CHEROKEE INTERTRIBAL DIPLOMACY AND NATION-BUILDING IN THE MISSOURI, ARKANSAS & INDIAN TERRITORIES IN THE 1780S TO 1840S

This dissertation explores Cherokee intertribal diplomacy and nation-building in the 19th century across Arkansas, Missouri, and Indian Territories. In the nineteenth century, the United States pressured Cherokees to move west of the Mississippi River, and small numbers of Cherokees traveled to Osage homelands. Conflicts with the Osage arose as lands and resources were fiercely contested. Intertribal diplomacy between the two peoples was characterized by cycles of peace and warfare. President Thomas Jefferson’s strategy of “voluntary” Indian removal and exchange of lands in the East for lands in the West contributed to the influx of Cherokees crossing the Mississippi River. The development of intertribal diplomacy between the two peoples remained contentious as the United States instituted the devastating Indian Removal Act of 1830. The forced removal of the Cherokees devastated Cherokee communities but also provided opportunities for the Cherokees and Osage to reach a diplomatic understanding. Cherokee intertribal diplomacy radiated onto the Plains in the 1840s, providing the foundations for a new vision of international law for the Indians. Cherokees were caught between the powerful Plains nations to their west and the United States to the east. Intertribal diplomacy in the nineteenth century for the Cherokees was built upon their experiences with the Osage, and the establishment of intertribal councils in the 1840s was the logical solution. Intertribal diplomacy enabled the Cherokee to rebuild their nation in Indian Territory against massive odds. Cherokee nation-building involved establishing peaceful relationships with their former adversaries and helped them reestablish their fires in the West.