USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Cherokee who occupied southwestern Virginia also spoke an Iroquoian-based language. Their first contact with Europeans may have been in 1540, when Hernando de Soto crossed the Blue Ridge after marching up from Florida.

Detailed explanation-2: -Iroquois, any member of the North American Indian tribes speaking a language of the Iroquoian family-notably the Cayuga, Cherokee, Huron, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

Detailed explanation-3: -Iroquoian languages were spoken in Southwestern Virginia and in Southern Virginia near what is today North Carolina; the Cherokee were a part of this group.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Iroquoian tribe, the powerful Cherokee nation, succeeded the Siouians in the control of their former territory in Southwest Virginia.

Detailed explanation-5: -Cherokee language, Cherokee name Tsalagi Gawonihisdi, North American Indian language, a member of the Iroquoian family, spoken by the Cherokee (Tsalagi) people originally inhabiting Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee.