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
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
