They called themselves Aniyunwiya, but white settlers learned the Creek word for 'people with another language'...Cherokee...and it stuck. There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes, the Cherokee Nation, the Keetoowah Band in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina, totaling over 700,000, making the Cherokee the largest of the 563 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States. This is not only significant, but worthy of great respect, since the infamous the winter of 1838-1839, known as The Trail of Tears nearly wiped these People out. Prominent Americans like Davy Crockett and Daniel Webster spoke against "Removal", and though the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, President Andrew Jackson sent in the army. The most painful part of this part of their history is that The Cherokee people were an urban, Christian, agricultural, intermarried society who had supported the United States against other tribes. For their loyalty, they were forced from their homes, 'as is', to begin the 800 mile journey to Oklahoma. Approximately 1/2 of the 15-20,000 Cherokee died on the walk. Their language is called Tsalagi and is spoken by around 22,000 People, which is, in itself, remarkable, since government policies as late as the 1950's enforced the removal of Cherokee children from Tsalagi-speaking homes, reducing the number of young Cherokees being raised bilingually from 75% to less than 5% today.