John Jolly,; (also known as Oolooteka), was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—West when the 1828 constitution was adopted. He was a friend and protector of a young Sam Houston.

Background

Jolly was headman of Cayuga town (on Hiwassee Island in present-day Hamilton County, Tennessee

Hamilton County, Tennessee

Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was named for Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 310,935 . Its county seat is Chattanooga....

), after his brother, Tahlonteeskee

Tahlonteeskee

Tahlonteeskee, is the name of several Cherokee, and one Creek Indian, during the period of the Chickamauga Wars. The name, , has been translated as "The Disturber" or "The Upsetter"....

's, departure for 'the west' in 1809. He eventually followed his brother to the Arkansaw Territory

Arkansas Territory

The Territory of Arkansas, initially organized as the Territory of Arkansaw, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1819 until June 15, 1836, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas.-History:The...

. There, Jolly was elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—West upon the death of his brother, in 1819.

Friendship with Houston

When the young Sam Houston came to live with the Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 on Hiwassee Island in 1809, Jolly adopted him and acted as his father in the Cherokee Nation

Cherokee Nation (19th century)

The Cherokee Nation of the 19th century —an historic entity —was a legal, autonomous, tribal government in North America existing from 1794–1906. Often referred to simply as The Nation by its inhabitants, it should not be confused with what is known today as the "modern" Cherokee Nation...

. Jolly gave Houston the Cherokee name of Ka'lanu, meaning 'the Raven'. Houston later returned to his family in Maryville, Tennessee

Maryville, Tennessee

Maryville is the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. The city is located south of Knoxville. Maryville's population was 27,258 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Maryville has received a number of accolades for its...

, but he lived once again with the Cherokee in the west during the late 1820s and early 1830s.

Achievements as Principal Chief

In 1828, during Jolly's term of office, the Cherokee Nation—West adopted a constitution establishing a tripartite government, much like that previously adopted by the Cherokee Nation—East (1827). That same year, most of the western Cherokee were moved from Indian Reserve areas in the Arkansas Territory to the newly established Indian Territory

Indian Territory

The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 (in present-day Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

). Jolly served as Principal Chief until his death in December 1838. He was succeeded by John Looney

John Looney (Cherokee chief)

John Looney was the last person elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation West by the whole tribe, and that was his second election to that office...

, who had been his assistant principal chief.

Legacy

Hiwassee Island, at the mouth of the Hiwassee River

Hiwassee River

The Hiwassee River has its headwaters on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in northern Georgia and flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee River a few miles west of State Route 58 in Meigs County, Tennessee...

 where it meets the Tennessee

Tennessee River

The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...

, used to be commonly known as "Jolly's Island" after the Cherokee leader. Residents in the area sometimes still call it that.

See also

• Sequoyah
  Sequoyah
  Sequoyah , named in English George Gist or George Guess, was a Cherokee silversmith. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible...
  
  
• Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
  Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
  The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians , is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the United States of America, who are descended from Cherokee who remained in the Eastern United States while others moved, or were forced to relocate, to the west in the 19th century. The history of the...
  
  
• United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
  United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
  The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe of Cherokee Indians headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The United Keetoowah are also referred to as the UKB...
  
  

Sources

• McLoughlin, William G.
  William G. McLoughlin
  William Gerald McLoughlin was an historian and prominent member of the history department at Brown University from 1954 to 1992. His subject areas were the history of religion in the United States, revivalism, the Cherokee, missionaries to Native Americans, abolitionism, and Rhode Island.Born in...
  
  Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).
• Wilkins, Thurman. Cherokee Tragedy: The Ridge Family and the Decimation of a People. (New York: Macmillan Company, 1970).