The Cherokee Indians were a civilization based on both agriculture and hunting. The hunts took place mainly in the winter, with the winter beginning soon after the Cherokee New Year in October and lasting until the religious ceremonies in April. The Cherokees recognized only two seasons of summer and this extended winter. Shorter hunts occurred during the summer months. 1 The actual city of Greenville was more of a hunting area for the Cherokee rather than a year-round settlement. The Indian settlements were slightly north and west of Greenville. The staple prey of the Cherokee was the deer which could be exploited and fully used for all its worth. The venison was eaten and the deerskins were necessities for clothing. These deerskins also became an extremely valuable part of the Indians economy, as the white traders heavily valued these deerskins as well as buffalo skins and bearskins. 2 The whites traded for these deerskins, often at a standard well below their worth, and by 1750 white-tailed deer hunting became the chief industry as the Cherokees had become dependant upon the white man's manufactured goods. 3
Both males and females ventured out for the hunt, although the males were the only ones who participated in the actual hunt. The few women brought along were for necessities such as carrying water, firewood, carcasses, butchering and preparing the meat, and tanning the hides. As the amount of game increased, so did the amount of women. 4 Most of the actual hunts were comprised of individual families or a small collection of individual families, not by entire communities at once. The parties consisted of about ten or less. If the meat was for a major village ceremony or the hunt was to venture into hostile territory, then a larger party was organized. 5
Each hunt lasted about two to three months, with the children and the elderly remaining behind to tend to the crops. 6 The larger game consisted of buffalo, squirrel, pheasant, quail, wild turkeys, opossum, and white-tailed deer. 7 Black bears and their grease were prized and were hunted in the fall when they were fattest. 8 The bow and arrow was used for these larger game. 9 Arrow points were made from chipping, flint, stone and occasionally bone, deer antlers, turkey spurs, and metal. Bows were made of sycamore, yellow locust, or hickory and seasoned by fire and oil. The smaller game were rabbits and smaller bird and were hunted with blowguns—hollow reeds of cane with thistle darts. 10
The practice of burning the underbrush was referred to as "fire surround." The practice was sometimes communal and was done during the late fall or early winter when the leaves were dry. Large piles of leaves would be set on fire, forcing deer and other game to scurry about into easily hunted areas such as creeks or rivers. It is believed that hunting was not the only reason for the forests to be intentionally burned. Others reasons for the deliberate sparking of forest fires included:
The deerskins were used for most of the clothing of both males and females. The men first skinned the hides from the animals and dressed them, then the women took over. The women removed all the remaining flesh from the skin and dried it in the sun. Holes were punched all over the skin then soaked in water for two to three days. The skin was then wrung dry and hung on an inclined board. The hair was removed with the aid of a piece of flint on a stick, the leg bone of a deer, or a hardwood drawing knife. Hair was removed from all game skins except buffalo and bear. The skin was then soaked in water once more, but this time ground deer brains were added to the solution. Women the often pounded the skin to soften it then stretched it on a frame for it to dry. The skin was then stretched over a dome and smoked over a fire of corncobs, dried animal dung, and rotten wood. The deerskin was then flipped over to the other side and the process was repeated. The skins were then usually dyed yellow, red, blue, green, or black—thus concluding the process. 13