Cherokee, North Carolina

The Qualla Boundary,
Home to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians,
Straddles the County Line

Some 250 businesses crowd the small town of Cherokee, located partly in Jackson County and partly in Swain County. Cherokee is the focus of the Cherokee Indian Reservation, also known as the Qualla Boundary. The reservation, created in 1875, consists or 56,572 acres of land scattered over five counties. 19,347 of those acres are in Jackson County. The center of tribal government is found in the town of Cherokee. The towns' main draw is tourism - it includes the southern gate to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - and the recent arrival of Harrah's Cherokee Casino has reemphasized the tourism focus, although the Cherokee, underthe leadership of Chief Joyce Dugan are moving slowly toward local sustainability and reemphasizing traditional tribal values and traditions. The first post office was established in Cherokee around 1839. The first residents arrived about 11,900 years prior to that.