Editing Cherokee (section)

==The homelands==
The Cherokee occupied numerous towns throughout the river valleys and mountain ridges of their homelands. What were called the Lower towns were found in what is present-day western [[Oconee County, South Carolina]], along the [[Keowee River]] (called the Savannah River in its lower portion). The principal town of the Lower Towns was [[Keowee]]. Other Cherokee towns on the Keowee River included Estatoe and Sugartown (''Kulsetsiyi''), a name repeated in other areas.

In western North Carolina, what were known as the Valley, Middle, and Outer Towns were located along the major rivers of the [[Tuckasegee River|Tuckasegee]], the upper [[Little Tennessee River|Little Tennessee]], [[Hiwassee River|Hiwasee]], [[French Broad River|French Broad]] and other systems. The [[Overhill Cherokee]] occupied towns along the lower Little Tennessee River and upper Tennessee River on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains, in present-day southeastern Tennessee.<!-- add total territory estimate and population before European or at European encounter -->

===Agriculture===
During the late [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic]] and [[Woodland Period]], Native Americans in the region began to cultivate plants such as [[Iva annua|marsh elder]], [[Chenopodium berlandieri|lambsquarters]], [[Amaranthus palmeri|pigweed]], [[Helianthus annuus|sunflowers]], and some native [[Squash (plant)|squash]]. People created new art forms such as [[shell gorget]]s, adopted new technologies, and developed an elaborate cycle of religious ceremonies.

During the Mississippian culture-period (1000 to 1500 CE in the regional variation known as the [[South Appalachian Mississippian culture]]), local women developed a new variety of maize (corn) called eastern [[flint corn]]. It closely resembled modern corn and produced larger crops. The successful cultivation of corn surpluses allowed the rise of larger, more complex [[chiefdom]]s consisting of several villages and concentrated populations during this period. Corn became celebrated among numerous peoples in religious ceremonies, especially the [[Green Corn Ceremony]].