Secretary of Natural Resources Office

Ethnobiology

Plants and animals have always held places of importance to the Cherokee people. Below are a few plants and animals that have significant meaning to Cherokees.

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Bald Eagle
1 MB -- Updated:6/10/2019

Perching and flying higher than other birds, no other bird is considered as sacred as the Bald Eagle.
Black Walnut
1.6 MB -- Updated:6/10/2019

The black walnut mainly grows in bottomland flood plains but also can be found on hilltops where the seeds were most likely planted by squirrels.
Blackberry
1.5 MB -- Updated:6/10/2019

Blackberries have been used as a food for many generations by Cherokees. Blackberry plants have also been used in medicine.
Bloodroot
1.6 MB -- Updated:6/10/2019

Bloodroot can be found growing just about anywhere in the Cherokee Nation. It is short-lived and goes dormant during mid-summer after the seeds mature.
Blue Heron
1.9 MB -- Updated:6/10/2019

Great blue herons typically are found wading near the shoreline of any water body looking for fish, crayfish, frogs, salamanders, and any other food.
Buckbrush
1.8 MB -- Updated:6/10/2019

Buckbrush has been used for many generations by Cherokees in such crafts as basketry and other forms of weaving.
Cardinal
1.6 MB -- Updated:6/10/2019

Cardinals can be found throughout Cherokee Nation as well as in the Cherokee ancestral homelands in the eastern United States.
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