Upon arrival in the western territory, the Cherokee emigrants settled among several thousand Cherokee Old Settlers. Relations proved rocky and a generation of conflict followed. Despite the tensions the Cherokee began to rebuild their lives and Nation. They reestablished their communities, they persisted in preserving their cultural heritage, they reconstructed their schools and churches, and they looked to the future with hope and confidence. They also continued to build on the laws and governing forms they had begun to establish in the early 19th century.
"The people elect the members of the Committee and Council for two years; they elect the sheriffs also, two committees and council and one sheriff for each of the 8 districts. The people elect the principal chief and assistant principal chief. They have a Supreme Court and Circuit Courts and other inferior Courts. the present committee and council is the first under the new constitution."
Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Journal, Cherokee Nation, November 24, 1841
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