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 Cherokee Nation is descended from those Cherokees who were removed to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma on the long journey now referred to as the Trail of Tears.
The federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is the only federally recognized tribe in the state of North Carolina. The Eastern Cherokee are those Cherokee people who remained on their traditional homelands when most of the Cherokee were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma.