Some landmarks enter your life quietly. You pass them often enough that they stop being curiosities and start becoming prompts for reflection. For me, one of those is a tree along a Highway 33 through Bankhead National Forest. I drive past it nearly every day. If you didn’t know what you were looking at, you … Continue reading The Land Remembers
Category: Native American Heritage
Essays exploring the history, cultures, and traditions of the Indigenous peoples of North America. These posts reflect on the societies, conflicts, alliances, and cultural legacies that shaped the continent long before European settlement and continue to influence the historical memory of regions such as the American South.
William Blevins and the Cherokee Nation: A Historical Intersection
When settlers pushed into the Tennessee frontier, they weren’t the first to chart the land — the Cherokee had been here for centuries, and their story intersects with the Blevins family in ways both documented and legendary. In tracing the life — or perhaps lives — of William Blevins, father and son, it’s worth stepping … Continue reading William Blevins and the Cherokee Nation: A Historical Intersection
The Dangers of DNA Testing
On May 31, 2014, I made the following post on this site: All my life I've been told I have Cherokee ancestry through my Knighten forebears. There are even a few interesting legends about how John L. Knighten escaped the Removal (a decade before he was born) and of family members visiting from the Cherokee … Continue reading The Dangers of DNA Testing
The damage of a "Trail of Fears"
In previous posts I've made mention of my purported Cherokee ancestry, so I'll not revisit those claims, but I want to focus on misguided use of term "Trail of Fears" with a recent announcement1 from my town as an example: Let me caveat this by stating that I do not believe that the term is used with … Continue reading The damage of a "Trail of Fears"
Cherokee Knightens – Intro
In Morgan County, Alabama legend, there exists the enigma of John L. Knighten, who some claim to be a full-blooded Cherokee who lived from 1849 to 1943. He was my great-great-great grandfather. I don't believe that the legend has been fabricated, but some of the details may have been embellished over the years. The problem … Continue reading Cherokee Knightens – Intro
