PHOTO ESSAY: Trip to Cherokee Nation
By Jonathan Radocay
From April 13 to April 27, 2022, I travelled throughout the Cherokee Nation and western Arkansas. My home base was Tahlequah, our capital. On the right is the Cherokee National History Museum, formerly the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Building. Everywhere, on street signs and embedded in the sidewalk, you can see our history and our language.
A view of the Illinois River from the Sparrow Hawk trail just outside Tahlequah. A Cherokee friend who grew up in Tahlequah took me to this magical spot. We talked Cherokee history and tribal politics—on Cherokee lands. It was truly a moving experience.
We have a long history of print and national politics. Left is a Cherokee language copy of The Cherokee Advocate. Right is a painting depicting the gathering of Old Settlers, Treaty Party members, Keetowahs, and emigrants from the Old Cherokee Nation shortly after our forced Removal in 1839. Among those who gathered here was my grandfather Moses Parris who signed the Act of Union of 1839, which unified many of our political organizations and Peoples under a new Cherokee national government.
It was early spring, and there was still tons of wild onions around. I had to dig one up for myself. Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to try wild onion and eggs, a classic Cherokee dish!
While I was in the area, I spent time with family in western Arkansas. Many of them are farmers around the Van Buren area, and I had the great pleasure of joining them for a family Easter celebration. They had never met me before, but they had plenty of fond memories of my grandfather to share.
I visited my family’s allotments in the community of Long, Sequoyah County. This is my grandmother Rebecca Moton Shamblin’s allotment. A friend helped me install plat map overlays onto my phone, and I was able to track whose allotments I was on or near in real time. It was a powerful way to experience the Cherokee landscape. I was driving down section roads originally surveyed during the allotment and termination of the Cherokee Nation at the beginning of the twentieth century.
I also visited my uncle Clem C. Moton at the Long Cemetery. The cemetery and the township were established on his and his family’s allotments. He served as a prominent attorney in the Cherokee Nation’s court system before statehood.
One of the places I felt most connected to was the Saline Courthouse and its grounds near Rose. The courthouse was one of nine district courthouses set up to serve the Cherokee Nation’s judicial system before statehood. I was the only visitor for the 2 hours I was there, and I had the opportunity to explore the creek and surrounding structures.
I had a wonderful time in Marble City with Mary Buzzard and Myra Robertson, members of CNCV’s sister community, the Marble City Activity Organization. They generously drove me around the community and took me out to a lunch of fried catfish. Delicious!
I conclude my photo essay with a good boy! I felt so blessed to meet a very friendly rez dog along the way.
