Beyond Land Acknowledgement - history by James Bradley

Notes from "Beyond Land Acknowledgement: Toward Reparations and Healing"

Sept 30, 2023, Asheville, NC

These are my own comments and photos on this blog, except the photos of his power point presentation, those are James Bradley's

James Bradley, Former Education Secretary of Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians gave a detailed (though of course brief 90 minutes) presentation of the history of Tribal peoples in North America.

His presentation did focus in on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI)

A wonderful power point presentation.

A lot of people took notes as he showed the masks representing the 7 clans of the Cherokee

A map showing the territory in which the Cherokee were established (Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia and more) before colonial powers and treaties (which were never kept by the white people).

I learned that all the histories which said the Cherokee had mainly been sent on the Trail of Tears but some hid in the mountains who became the ancestors of the present Tribe - was WRONG. (Though yes, 11,000 did go to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears, and a quarter of them died on the way.) 

Actually the following quotes are from a Wikipedia article which says much the same but sort of includes the truth. (Remember who writes history - the winners of wars.)

Some of the Cherokee were able to evade the initial removal and hide in the Great Smoky Mountains, some were free to stay on their lands due to earlier treaties, but the majority of the Cherokee people were removed from the land. This was when the main struggle for land at what became the Qualla Boundary began. (NC GenWeb Project)

Here's the truth as given by James, as well as other sources:

"The tribe purchased this land in the 1870s, and it was subsequently placed under federal protective trust; it is not a reservation created by the government. Individuals can buy, own, and sell the land, provided they are enrolled members of the Tribe of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. (from Wikipedia)

So Qualla Boundary is actually a "territory held as a land trust by the United States government for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians."  

This purchase of land occurred with the help of a white man (who had the title to it, and sold it to the Tribes. William Holland Thomas had lived and worked among the Cherokee people for a good portion of his life. He had a knowledge of their traditions and language, and was close friends with some members of the tribe. The Cherokee valued and respected Thomas; he had studied law and was adopted into the tribe and named as successor by its hereditary chief. He is the only European American to have served as chief in their history.  

(from Culture, History and Development on Qualla Boundary)

Audience member asking questions of James

A audience member (also Tribal) asking questions.

More to follow on this blog.

And here are the sponsors of this program. All Indigenous People were admitted free.

Beyond Land Acknowledgement: Toward Reparations and Healing

Beyond Land Acknowledgement - part one

For about 80 mostly older white people, the Eastern Band of Cherokee spoke at the Olli Center of the U of NC at Asheville. The seminar I attended last Saturday was intense, informative, and respectful in sharing the history, the personal experiences, and the hopes of Cherokee peoples. Most of the speakers were from the Eastern Band of Cherokee, located in North Carolina, and other tribes. I was the volunteer photographer.

Here are the presenters:

James Bradley, Former Education Secretary of Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI)

Patty Grant Edgemon, Behavioral Health Specialist, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI)

Shenelle Feather, Education Program Manager, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Boundary, Cherokee, NC

Nola, Cultural Specialist giving the history of life on earth (excellent amazing presentation), Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Dylan Morgan, Cultural Specialist of pine basket weaving, musician,  Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Lianna Costantino, Director, Tribal Alliance Against Fraud, "Toward Allyship with American Indians"

Music by Jamie Marie Spears and Jarrett Wildcat

Shannon Swimmer, JD, Former Associate Judge, Cherokee Courts, "Reconciliation Process using Talking Circles to Heal.:

The event was brought into being by three matriarchs and many volunteers:

Pat Johnson, Maggie O'Neill and Elizabeth Wallace

Before it started are Maggie O'Neill and Evan Yanik (one of our technical pair who kept the audio/video smoothly running). I can't say enough about Maggie, her calm presence on top of everything, and her organizational skills shining through! 

Elizabeth Wallace was another of the matriarchal leaders who put this all together, working with me (official photographer) and other volunteers to keep things enjoyable for an audience of 80, plus the Tribal presenters. (I'm using "Tribal" as we heard from them that Natives have trouble with all the phrases that describe them, given by the colonial peoples.)

Here Pat Johnson (organizer) stands with one of the vibrant speakers, Patty Grant Edgemon.

Jarrett Wildcat opened the seminar with welcoming double flute music.

Seated are speakers Patty Grant Edgemon, and James Bradley, while Maggie welcomed everyone to the program as shown on the big screen above.

I'm going to give just a few highlights today. Patty introduced many of us to the extent of historical grief, trauma and intergenerational impacts of the colonization process. (more details to come)

There was time for questions and answers after each of the 5 speakers.  And during breaks there usually were lines of people with more questions for them.

Here James, (who has just finished a detailed history of the Cherokee) listens to an attendee as she shares personally.

Yes, this week I'll share more of these photos and my experience of "Beyond Land Acknowledgement: Toward Reparations and Healing" 

Look for Tribal People have Spoken chapters here later this week. But I know you could be bored by an inundation, so I'll still post other things going on in my life!!

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Note: This is why I missed reading all my blog friend's posts on Sat., as well as being able to reply to their comments. But I was exhausted after my 9 hour day (including driving to Asheville) and napped 2 hours before dinner!