Esmeralda

I read a thread about the origin of the word "Jeep" but I haven't found anything on why the Cherokee was named this way.

Does anyone know what led to the Cherokee to be named this way? I would really appreciate some information.

All I know is that: the word Cherokee is derived from the Choctaw language; it comes from the word 'Cha-la-kee' which means "those who live in the mountains," but this has to do with the indian tribe...does it has some connection to the XJ?

Bustedback

How does any car get its name? Guys in suits and focus groups spitballing and thinking up names for their vehicles. All of that and somebody still though the name of Probe was a good idea.

Esmeralda

Yes. I know that, but they come up with the names somehow, don't they? I just wanted to know if anyone knew what they base the name on.

shanester

cherokee is a indian tribe to if im not mistaken, probably just liked the name and the description u had for what it means fit so they went with it :P

Bustedback

It's a little known fact that the second choice name was "Flaming Death Trap", the marketing people thought it would be too much of a challenge to try sell a high profile vehicle with that name so they stuck with Cherokee.

shanester

i thought they went with cherokee because that was already the project name for the Ford Pinto?

caged

pinto means "little *****" and nova means "no go".

not sure where they got the name cherokee, as it's from the early FSJ's, then we got the cherokee chief and the comanche.
but i've never heard of a "grand cherokee" in a tribe...

no rdplz

I did a paper on this a while ago and got to talk with one of Jeep's Exec's. This is what he told me:

When Jeep was making the Grand Wagoneer and started looking at a 2 door, "sport" version, they looked for a name that communicated 2 things: strength and civility. The Cherokee nation is well known as one of the toughest Native American people groups. The suffering they withstood while being driven out of the southern Appalachian mountains was unimaginable. Many died during the long trip to the Midwest (mostly done on foot), yet, they are the largest Native American group today. While they were still in the NC/SC/GA area during the colonial times, they were included among "The 5 Most Civil Tribes". These two character traits locked in the name for the new 2-door sport utility vehicle. When Jeep introduced the XJ, they wanted the same aspects to be communicated in the name of their new SUV. Thus, the Cherokee name continued.

Whether he was giving me a bunch of BS or not, I don't know, but it's a cool story none the less.

Jmb94

This.

RESCUE-K9

HAHAHAHAHA yeah who thought Probe was a good idea HAHAHAHAHA

shanester

the le baron was also an amazing name for a car :P

Evilpopcorn

Trail Of Tears=Cash4Clunkers
Many were lost, but those who survived emerged stronger.

Esmeralda

Awesome, that sounds perfect, thank you. I knew I would find an answer here.

99xjclassic

that was great!!! rotflmfao

porphyry

The word Cherokee is not necessarily derived from the Choctaw language word for the mountain people. The Cherokee word for theirselves is Tsa-la-gee, the meaning of which could be translated as people of the mountains, but it is unlikely due to the fact that one of their central creation myths is that a great eagle descended from the sky when the world was flat, flapping his giant wings. When the wings were in apogee (upstroke), they created mountains. When they were in perigee (downstroke), they created valleys. Thus, from the perspective of that tale, the entire world was thought to be mountainous, at least according to the Cherokee. I believe the Mohawk (another of the 5 civilized tribes) have a similar creation myth.

Phonetically, the Choctaw and the Cherokee words for the Cherokee people are very similar (tsa is a voiced palatal consonant, as is cha, with a slightly different lingual placement on the hard palate. G is the voiced version of K), but since the Cherokee were the dominant tribe in that part of the south, it is likely of Cherokee origin and simply a mispronounciation on the part of the Choctaw. The only tribe that really even rivaled the Cherokees in that part of the United States were the Creek. It is important to remember, however, that the Cherokee were the first native people to have a written language (circa 1830) and remained the only literate tribe for quite some time.

For more information, read James Mooney's "Sacred Formulas and Myths of the Cherokees."

Sorry for the long discourse, but I am a published author on the Cherokee Indians and it's one of my favorite subjects.