The Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama (CTNEAL) is recognized by the State of Alabama, and has a representative on the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission and the Inter-Tribal Council of Alabama. It is one of nine state-recognized tribes. The federally recognized Cherokee Nation has disputed the validity of this and other state-recognized tribes claiming Cherokee descent.
The Lumbee Tribe is the largest indian tribe in North Carolina, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest tribe in the nation that does not have Federal Recognition. They have been recognized by the State of North Carolina since 1885.
The Coharie Indian Tribe is recognized as an indian tribe by the State of North Carolina. They are descended from the Iroquoian-speaking Neusiok and Coree, as well as the Carolinan Iroquoian Tuscarora, and the Siouan Waccamaw, who occupied what is now the central portion of North Carolina. The Coharie have intermarried predominantly with the Lumbee and Tuscarora Indians of Robeson County, as well as with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama are the descendants of those Indian people who escaped the infamous “Trail of Tears” by hiding out in the mountainous backwoods and lowlands of the Southeast. Others fled from the march after it began and others simply walked away and came home after reaching Indian Territory. They are state recognized by the State of Alabama.
The MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians are a state-recognized American Indian tribe located in southern Alabama, primarily in Washington and Mobile counties. The MOWA Choctaw Reservation is located along the banks of the Mobile and Tombigbee rivers, on 300 acres near the small southwestern Alabama communities of McIntosh, Mount Vernon and Citronelle, and north of Mobile.
According to Cherokee legends, in the old days, Grouse had a good voice and Turkey had none. Therefore Turkey asked Grouse to teach him. But Grouse wanted pay, so Turkey promised to give him some feathers for a collar. That is how the Grouse got his collar of turkey feathers.