The Cherokee Nation reckons with its history of slavery in a new exhibit
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But one of the darkest chapters of Cherokee history remained absent from its walls, until recently.
The display, which greets museum visitors as they first walk in, is one of several recent steps taken by the Cherokee Nation to reckon with its history of slavery.
“This museum exhibit is really the latest in our ongoing effort to not just adhere to legal requirements of equality, but to really embrace the spirit of equality and to explore this part of Cherokee history that, frankly, has been diminished and not talked about for generations,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. told CNN.
Cherokee Freedmen were long denied their rights
The history of the Cherokee Freedmen spans from the late 18th century to present day.
“I want my kids and grandkids to grow up in a world in which they are absolutely mystified that for a century and a half, Freedmen descendants were denied their rights, and that they are proud of the fact that it long last we did it,” Hoskin said. “I also think we’re a stronger nation for having recognized Freedman rights and the rights of Freedman descendants.”
Freedmen are finally being recognized as Cherokee
On the four walls that envelop the exhibition are the names of more than 5,000 Cherokee Freedmen.
“For a long time, those names and those voices have been left out,” said Travis Owens, vice president of cultural tourism for Cherokee Nation Businesses. “Now, they are not only present but very prominent in the building.”
The ancestors of Willadine Johnson are among the names on the walls.
Johnson’s maternal and paternal great-great-grandparents walked the Trail of Tears with their Cherokee enslavers. She and some of her family members received their Cherokee citizenship cards in 2006, but over the years, she said they’ve had to fight to be recognized. On September 3, her family traveled to Tahlequah from Kansas City, Missouri, for a special reception commemorating the exhibit.
The Cherokee Freedmen exhibit features a number of archival materials collected by descendants, among them a certificate signed by former President Barack Obama honoring Johnson’s great-great-grandfather Rufus Vann, who served in the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment. A photo postcard of Johnson’s great-grandmother Phyllis Vann Bean is also on display. Since she found out their family history would be a part of the exhibit, Johnson said she and her family have shed tears of joy.
“It’s just really something to finally be recognized for our Cherokee ancestry,” she said in an interview last week. “We are Cherokee.”
While the Cherokee Nation has been a leader in granting Freedmen rights, there is still work to be done to achieve full equality, Hoskin said. This exhibit, he hopes, will be a critical step.
“What’s most healthy for Cherokee society is to confront these difficult chapters, to look at the facts head on and to reconcile them with what is going on today in our lives,” he said. “I think it starts with gaining an understanding of the basic history.”
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