Cher ‧ o ‧ kee /ˈtʃerəkiː/ BrE AmE noun
1 . the Cherokee [P] a Native American tribe from the US states of North Carolina and Tennessee. The Cherokee had a form of government similar to that of the US, called the Cherokee Nation. Many Cherokee died on the ↑ Trail of Tears , when they were forced to leave their lands and go to live on a ↑ reservation in ↑ Indian Territory in what is now the state of Oklahoma
2 . [countable] a member of this tribe ⇨ ↑ Native American
—Cherokee adjective :
the Cherokee language