From Nick Douglas's Facebook:
Celtic Arms and Armor by storyteller Bob Harris. Not pictured, storytellers Terrell Shaw who told the story of the Spoorworm and Gary Greene who told of the Cherokee Removal and sang his Cherokee Names song which was inspired by the old man who told the soldiers who came for him, "You may take my people from their homeland but you'll never take our names from your waters.
Terrell Shaw
It was a great and pleasing surprise to recognize you in the audience, Nick. Great to see, and we're looking forward to seeing you on the Fourth again this year.
Amy Douglas Tapia
Nick, where was this? Let me know next year Please. If I am free I want to go too!! Amy
Nick Douglas
Amy, this might not be an annual event. I hope it will be. This was in Rome, Georgia, at the Chieftains Museum located in MajorJohn Ridge's home.
Major Ridge was a Cherokee leader, a lawyer, plantation owner, ferry-operator, and author of the Cherokee law that forbade transferring Indian lands to white governments despite the 1802(?) Georgia Compact in which President Jefferson promised the state of Georgia that Cherokee lands would become Georgia's once they Indians were removed.
After the removal of the Creek and other southeastern tribes and after the whites discovered gold near Dahlonega (Cherokee for yellow rock) and forcibly took those lands from the Cherokees living there, in accordance with nearly passed Georgia laws, Ridge came to believe that the only way to prevent complete extermination of the Cherokee people was to agree to move to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). When he and some others (without authorization from Principal Chief John Ross) signed the Treaty of New Echota agreeing to Cherokee Removal, he reportedly said that he had just signed his own death warrant. He was right. He was assassinated or executed (depending on your point of view) a few years later near the Arkansas - Oklahoma border.
Terrell Shaw
Nick, this was the second or third year of the event. I hope it will continue.
No comments:
Post a Comment