Cherokee National History Museum — Attraction in Tahlequah

On Wednesday we drove to Tahlequah, the capital city of both the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. Their reservation spans 14 counties in Northeastern Oklahoma.

In 1830, gold was discovered on Cherokee lands. The exact same year, not only were Cherokees legally prohibited from mining for gold on their own lands Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

In exchange for $5 million the Cherokee people would "exchange" their homelands for lands in Oklahoma. Not only were the people who signed the treaty on behalf of the Cherokee not elected officials of the tribe in any capacity, the US government never paid the money out, nor were the Cherokee given a seated representative in the US House of Representatives per the 1835 Treaty of New Echota.

More than 100,000 Native Americans, including the Cherokees were forcibly removed from their homes in the Carolinas, Appalachia and Alabama. The Seminoles of Florida even went to war for 7 years against the US government to try to hold onto their land. People were hunted, killed and those who were captured were forced to march a thousand miles on a journey that became known as "The Trail of Tears" due to 4,000 people dying on the forced relocation march.

After the Native Americans were forcibly removed, their land and gold mining rights were then given to wealthy white settlers in lotteries. This land became the massive plantations (corporate farms) of the slave-era.

I've been to Tahlequah before but they tore down the original museum that I visited in favor of turning this courthouse into a museum. Personally, the trail of tears exhibit was a better exhibit at the former museum. It always stuck with me how they had eyewitness accounts of US soldiers bayonetting pregnant women on the trail....

Was a nice museum. Learned a lit about their history I didn't know. My only suggestion is that it says it is free which it is not except to tribe members. Not that that is a big deal but when we entered instead of just saying "that'll be $7/ea" it was "oh you're not a tribe member, and your not a vet or student either?" It started the experience off in an odd setting. I am sure she meant nothing by it but it almost felt like "why are you here." I couldn't get that encounter out of my head while walking around. Just say the admission price and go about your day. Okay Google is wrong, fix it and don't make people feel weird for wanting to come and learn more whether they have a tribal...

While the quality of exhibits is good, the focus of those exhibits isn't congruent with the historical significance of the building in which they are housed. This is the original Cherokee National Capitol building and I would like to have seen original Council chambers and exhibits about decisions and events made within and the impact of those historical occurrences on the lives of Cherokee citizens and the nation as a whole. As it is now, it's a little like turning the US Senate chamber into an exhibit about the crossing of...