Cherokee (North Carolina)

Cherokee is a census-designated place in Swain and Jackson counties in western North Carolina, United States, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley around the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S. Route 441. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 2,138.Cherokee is the headquarters for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. To continue the heritage of the Cherokee in the town, several signs for streets and buildings are written in both Cherokee syllabary and English .Cherokee was previously known as "Yellow Hill", which is still used in Cherokee : ᎡᎳᏬᏗ Elawodi.EconomyHarrah's Cherokee Casino opened in 1997 and dramatically "changed everything from jobs to education to health care" for Cherokee tribe members; in 2005, nearly four million people visited the casino and generated a per capita profit of roughly $8,000 annually.Manufacturing and textile plants which previously existed in the area have since closed or moved overseas. Before the casino came to the area, national park tourism provided work for about half of the year, and most tribal members lived off public assistance during the winter.