Because they still do. From the Israelites building a false idol statue of Baal during the Exodus, to the Vatican today. They use gold because of its intrinsic value as currency, and it's worthiness as sacrifice of sorts due to its purity. They think(know) gold is a powerful substance.
They've done research linking Cherokee DNA to one of the lost tribes of Israel and have found multiple rock and cave carvings in ancient Hebrew in the southeast US where the Cherokee originate. Also, the Cherokee DNA doesn't match up with other native tribes.