The Cherokee Nation is the federally-recognized government of the Cherokee people and has inherent sovereign status recognized by treaty and law. The seat of tribal government is the W.W. Keeler Complex near Tahlequah, Okla., the capital of the Cherokee Nation.
Guide to Cherokee Indians ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and other agency records. This site has a very good timeline for Cherokee history.