"I met with two young women preparing to be missionaries. I expressed a wish that I might go all over eastern Oklahoma and preach missions in every church until the people would get stirred up in their pure minds concerning this great cause. During the night, it was revealed to me in one moment of time that I would travel eastern Oklahoma in the interests of foreign missions, going from church to church. At one moment I did not know it and the next moment I did know it, and knew that I would do so in the next year following."
-Thrilling Experiences of Frontier Life in Western Oklahoma", by La Fayette Cassler
Brother Cassler lived in Western Oklahoma -- areas not settled or occupied by Native Americans. Eastern Oklahoma means "Indian Country". Where the Cherokee and the other Eastern tribes had settled following their forced relocation. Brother Cassler doesn't write about his time with the Cherokee, sadly. But, following Brother Cassler's lead, I explored eastern Oklahoma during my last two days on the road.
History lesson: The Cherokee were the largest Native American tribe in the Southeastern United States. Their ancestral home was in northwest Georgia, bleeding into adjacent Tennessee and North Carolina. Europeans started pushing into their land in the late 18th century, and the Cherokee, more than any other tribe, responded by adopting European ways. Increasing numbers intermarried with whites, learned English, adopted Christianity, and operated plantations (complete with African slaves). They fought alongside white Americans against other Native peoples, most notably supporting Andrew Jackson in his campaign to quell a Muscogee Creek uprising in the Red Stick War. They adopted republican government, establishing a capital at New Echota, GA, complete with a legislative hall and a supreme court building. Due to the work of Sequoyah, they developed the first written language of a Native people, and published a newspaper. They became prosperous and wealthy.
There was, ultimately, one problem -- despite all of this, the Cherokee weren't white. And therefore, the State of Georgia decided they didn't want them there. Georgia passed a series of laws prohibiting Cherokee self-government, and ultimately prohibiting Cherokee from owning land and living in the state. The Cherokee appealed to the Supreme Court, who found Georgia's laws unconstitutional. Then, the Cherokee's old brother-in-arms, now President Andrew Jackson, refused to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling, and ordered the removal of the Cherokee to what is now Oklahoma. When most Cherokee refused to go, he directed the Army to round up the people, move them to holding camps, and then force them in 1838-39 on their way down the "Trail of Tears" -- the 1,000 mile journey to Oklahoma. Mortality rates were high, an estimated 20%+ of the Cherokee died en route.
Having arrived, the Cherokee set about reestablishing their republican government. They built towns, schools, jails -- everything that you would expect from a 19th century frontier civilization with one important difference: the land was owned collectively, not individually. Despite this, by the 1880's, the Federal government decided that "Indian Territory" was too valuable to be left to the Natives. They enforced "allotments" to individual Natives, and then took the "surplus" land to make it available to white settlers (among whom, as I have noted, were my ancestors). As statehood loomed, the Cherokee and other Native tribes petitioned to create a "State of Sequoyah" in the eastern part of Indian Territory, creating a state with a majority Native American population. President Teddy Roosevelt disagreed, and as part of Oklahoma Statehood, enforced a disbandment of all tribal organizations and structures, in violation of the 1830's treaties. No more tribal chiefs, tribal law enforcement, tribal schools. Children were taken from their parents to residential schools -- the better to enforce English language and Christianity.
Ugh. That's a long and brutal history lesson.
I asked a few people before heading east from Tulsa: "what's going to be different as I head to Cherokee Nation". It was best summarized by the woman I talked to at the Osage Museum "It's so pretty there!". And -- it was. I realized -- this reminds me of North Georgia, which I rode through on my Sherman's March trip two springs ago (which, I realized yesterday, took me within 5 miles of New Echota, the Cherokee capital city). I'm guessing that part of why the Cherokee gravitated to this part of Oklahoma was because it looked like "home". I've tried to give a sense of the countryside with the photos -- open pastures mixed with rolling tree-covered hills. Lots of livestock: cows, goats, chickens. Lots of running water. Rural, but unlike Western Oklahoma and much of the last year's trip down the Mississippi; places that felt populated and economically vibrant. Busy streets and commercial activity for the most part, not closed shops and abandoned homes.
Our first stop was the town of Tahlequah (pop. 16,000), capital of Cherokee Nation. We headed first to the historic part of town to visit museums maintained by the Nation. All are free of charge, even without donation boxes ("we tell people if they want to make a donation, visit the casino!"). We had arranged for an interpretive guided tour of the Cherokee National History Museum (courtesy of my Bain friends Lucas and Pam, who work with the Cherokee Nation), and also tours of the Supreme Court Museum and Prison Museum -- all buildings built during the 19th century period of Cherokee self-government that was terminated by the Curtis Act. What you got from the tours: the Cherokee people took governance seriously, worked with the U.S. authorities cooperatively, and administered justice to the best of their ability (limited by the fact that they had no authority over white criminals who sought refuge in the Indian Territory). Highly recommend the museums.
We then experienced the "other side of Tahlequah". One long strip with all the chain restaurants you can imagine, and at the end of it, the casino that is the economic engine of town, one hand feeding the other. We went through the casino -- slot machine heaven. Our hotel was literally next door -- the person at the front desk (undoubtedly from her script) asked "What brings you to Tahlequah?" -- I'm guessing "The Cherokee Nation museums" wasn't the #1 prompt on her checklist.
Day 2 - a trip deeper into the Nation. We headed first to Sequoyah's Cabin in Sallisaw. Sequoyah is celebrated as a hero by the Cherokee people. He developed a "syllabary" (think, phonetic alphabet) of 80+ characters to create a written language for the Cherokee, the first of its kind for Native Americans. He also helped build a Native presence in Oklahoma. His cabin is a testament to his simple life -- remote, primitive -- truly, a man of the people, a symbol of their values.
You will see below a statue of Sequoyah, wearing a turban. We learned the story behind this at the museum: Three Cherokee chiefs went to London in the 1760s to meet King George. The king’s staff thought they looked too fierce, and asked the chiefs to wear some turbans that a Turkish group had left behind. The chiefs liked the turbans so much they took them home. The Cherokee people thought the chiefs looked like rock stars and copied the fashion. Sixty years later Sequoyah was still sporting one for the one portrait he sat for. You will see that I liked the fashion too and tried one on for myself :)
The end of the day was Webbers Falls, on the Arkansas River, the site of the final disembarkment of the "Trail of Tears" survivors arriving in Oklahoma. We enjoyed our visit at the historical society museum -- guided by a local Cherokee. 509 miles over eight days crisscrossing Oklahoma done and dusted.
My takeaways: 1) The Cherokee were and are a proud and successful people 2) despite adopting "white people's rules and customs" they were banished to Oklahoma 3) having arrived there, they retained the principles of republican government and rule of law 4) despite that, they lost those rights when America decided it needed more room for expansion 5) despite that, the Cherokee people have adapted and remain vital into the 21st century.
More on the last in my final post on this journey.
