Tag: Tahlequah
Tahlequah (/ˈtælɨkwɑː/ TAL-ə-kwah; Cherokee: ᏓᎵᏆ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It was founded as a capital of the original Cherokee Nation in 1838 to welcome those Cherokee forced west on the Trail of Tears.
The city’s population was 15,753 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.96 percent from 14,458 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cherokee County. The main campus of Northeastern State University is located in the city. Tahlequah is the capital of the two federally recognized Cherokee tribes in Oklahoma, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and the modern Cherokee Nation.
Many linguists believe the word ‘Tahlequah’ (Tah-le-quah) and the word ‘Teh-li-co’ are the same as ‘di li gwa,’ the Cherokee word for grain or rice. (See Cherokee Nation Lexicon (dikaneisdi) at cherokee.org under culture/language. Scholars report the Cherokee word ‘di li gwa’ describes a type of native grain with a red hue…
