This narrative history of the Cherokee Nation was first published in 1988 by John Ehle, known both as a historian of this bent and as a novelist of the early Americas. I’ve previous read his novel The Land Breakers, which takes place in the North Carolina west country in the 1700s.
This history begins in the late 18th century as well by establishing the relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the, first, colonial Georgia government and the state government of Georgia and the national government of the United States, primarily through the administration of Andrew Jackson. So much of this relationship is built upon the white governments treating with the Cherokee government mostly out of a political necessity, out of respect for their collective power, and with a kind of mutual benefit between, up until it wasn’t necessary and the white government could immediately, cruelly, and forcefully betray all those previous agreements as soon as possible. I don’t mean AT ALL that the Georgia or US government treated them respectfully meaning as mutuals, but in the sense that the Cherokee government has weight and force behind it, and were useful allies, so they had to be treated accordingly. But like I said, until they didn’t. There’s even a lament by one of the Cherokee leaders that “Does this country ever repose?” Which is a fair point.
The history of course also details the political tightening against the Cherokee Nation. This presents the very specific question and purposely exploited legal fiction the US government used against Native American nations that they are not nations, so they don’t have legal standing, but they are subject to treaties, until they are not. It’s clearly part of the history of the US saying and doing whatever they want and then looking for justification after. It’s placing the Native American peoples in a permanent state of “state of exception” and “homo sacer” and treating them accordingly whenever they need to.
