Cherokee society refers to the traditional society and culture of the Cherokee (or ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ (a-ni-yv-wi-ya-i) in Cherokee language) people. The Cherokee are a people native to North America who at the time of European contact in the 17th century inhabited the mountain and inland regions of the southeastern United States in areas of present-day Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, before the majority of the tribe was forcefully moved to Indian Territory.