Our History
The Cherokee people have resided in the North Georgia area of the Blue Ridge Mountains for hundreds of years before the arrival of white Europeans. This included the environs of present day Dahlonega, Georgia, home of the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee.
In more modern times, the Treaties of 1817 and 1819 granted 640 acres of land west of now Dahlonega to Daniel Davis as a reservation. Read more about historical information on 1817 Reservation Roll.
On this land he established a home and farm. Daniel's wife was Rachael (Martin) Davis, a 1/4 Cherokee woman. Rachael was the direct descendant of Ludovic Grant and Mary Cherokee (Eughioote), a full blooded Cherokee. The Davis' allowed other Cherokee families on this reservation and it is from these Cherokee people that the majority of our Tribe is descended.
In the early 1970's, a group of Tribal members collected the genealogy and cultural artifacts of those people in the Dahlonega area who were of Cherokee lineage. During this period, the group formed themselves into an organized Cherokee tribe which they named the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee. It was resolved that membership in the Tribe would be limited to the descendants of those people who were listed in the Guion Miller Roll of 1909. Read more about historical information on Guion Miller Roll.
In 1979, the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee petitioned the Office of Acknowledgement (OFA) of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to become a federally recognized Indian Tribe. The Tribe was officially named "Petitioner #41" by the OFA.
Unfortunately, after many years of data collection and answering all of the OFA inquiries, the OFA reported that our Tribe met only five of the seven criteria required to meet the level of federal recognition and turned down our petition.
Even though federal recognition would have greatly benefited our Tribe, we still use our status as a State recognized Tribe to help improve the lives of all our Tribal members.