Cherokee

:Alternate meanings: Cherokee (disambiguation)

Famous Cherokees

There were several famous Cherokees in American history, including Sequoyah, who invented the Cherokee writing system. Sequoyah may be the only known person in history to invent a widely used written language single handedly. Sequoyah never learned to speak, read or write the English language.

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Famous Cherokee politicians include Chad 'Corntassel' Smith, Wilma Mankiller and Ross Swimmer. The American blues-rock guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, was of Cherokee descent via his paternal grandmother, Nora Rose Moore. Oral Roberts, a Pentecostal evangelist in the 1950's through the 1990's, is also of Cherokee descent.

Related Topics:
Chad 'Corntassel' Smith - Wilma Mankiller - Ross Swimmer - Jimi Hendrix - Oral Roberts

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Others who have identified aspects of their bloodline as Cherokee, while not wholly ethnic Cherokee, include:

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• Tori Amos, singer (maternal grandfather was part Eastern Cherokee (an Eastern Cherokee with some European ancestry)
• Kim Basinger, actress (Swedish, German and Cherokee ancestors)
• James Brown, singer (Black, Cherokee)
• Rita Coolidge, singer
• Kevin Costner, actor (Cherokee, Irish and German ancestors)
• Johnny Depp, actor (mother half-Irish/half-Cherokee, father German)
• Jerry Ellis, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his 1991 book Walking the Trail, One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears
• Shannon Elizabeth, actress (Syrian-Lebanese father and mixed Cherokee mother)
• James Garner, actor
• Jimi Hendrix, guitarist, singer (Black, Caucasian and Cherokee ancestors)
• Val Kilmer, actor (Mongolian, Irish, Scottish, Cherokee, German, Sephardic, Swedish ancestors) paternal great-grandmother was Cherokee
• Eartha Kitt, singer (Caucasian father & Black-Cherokee mother)
• Sonny Landham, Hollywood and pornographic actor (Cherokee and Seminole)
• Karen McDougal, model (Cherokee and Irish ancestors) Playboy Playmate of the Year 1998
• Joe nichols,counrty singer.
• Elvis Presley, singer, actor (Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Jewish and Cherokee ancestors)
• Burt Reynolds, actor (Cherokee, Irish, Italian)
• Salli Richardson, actress (Black-Cherokee mother & Italian-Irish father)
• Robert Rauschenberg, painter (German, Cherokee)
• Ronnie Spector, singer (Caucasian father & Black-Cherokee mother)
• Tina Turner, singer (Black, Cherokee)
• Tony Joe White, singer (Caucasian, Cherokee)

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