Cherokee

… town in E Swain County on Oconaluftee River that is the governmental and spiritual center of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Alt. 1,955. The name probably is from the Muskogee Indian word tciloki, meaning "people of a different speech." The outdoor drama Unto These Hills, written by Kermit Hunter, has been produced there each summer since 1950; the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and the Oconaluftee Indian Village Living History Museum are also there.