Understand
This is the center of Cherokee culture in North Carolina and indeed the eastern United States. Many natives call this area home, the Cherokee language is also spoken by many in this area. The town was established by the Cherokee who stayed behind while the US Government forced them west in the Trail of Tears. Those who stayed behind hid in the mountains that now make up the Great Smokey Mountains National Park (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/i...).
The Cherokee people are eastern Native Americans, do not ask them where the tipis are. Tipis were made by western Native Americans. The Cherokee people lived in houses made of woven grass covered with mud, and after the European settlers arrived, log cabins.
Cherokee is one of the gateways to the [Great Smokey Mountains National Park], and it's economy is mainly tourism based. There is no "downtown" to Cherokee; the entire built up area is mainly composed of hotels and tourist shops selling "Indian" themed merchandise.
