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 Other: Cherokee


Cherokee Dialects

According to the Ethnologue there are between 15,000 and 22,500 speakers of Cherokee out of a total ethnic population of about 310,000. These represent more than one dialect. In Oklahoma the Cherokee population is 70,000; in North Carolina it is 9,800. In Oklahoma there are approximately 14,000 speakers; in North Carolina there are about 1,000 speakers.

Dialects include Elati (Lower Cherokee, Eastern Cherokee), Kituhwa (Middle Cherokee), Otali (Upper Cherokee, Western Cherokee, Overhill Cherokee), Overhill-Middle Cherokee. (Ethnologue)


Largest Tribe

Although Navajo represents the largest Native speech community in North America, the Navajo Nation is not North America's largest tribe. The largest Native group is the Cherokee.

You may have noticed that 70,000 (Oklahoma) and 9,800 (North Carolina does not add up to 310,000. There are Cherokees in every state and often in large numbers. When intermarriage is taken into account, the number of Cherokees about triples.