"The Cherokee Nation, largest of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast, is a people of Iroquoian lineage. The Cherokee, who called themselves "Ani'-Yun' wiya" or "Principal People", migrated to the Southeast from the Great Lakes Region. They commanded more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachians by 1650 with a population estimated at 22,500. Similar to other Native Americans of the Southeast, their nation was a confederacy of towns, each subordinate to supreme chiefs. When encountered by Europeans, they were an agrarian people who lived in log homes (not tee pees) and observed sacred religious practices. During the American Revolution the Cherokees, as well as the Creek and Choctaw, supported the British and made several attacks on forts and settlements in the frontier."