Ned Christie: The Man from Wauhillau
The Cherokee people know Ned Christie as a patriot who stood up for tribal sovereignty in the last decades before the allotment of Cherokee lands. Since the late 1800s, others – often non-Cherokees – have told stories of a reckless Indian outlaw who murdered a deputy U.S. Marshal and spread fear far and wide. Using recent scholarship, a new exhibit looks at Christie’s life and finds a more nuanced portrait of a man who served his Nation and ultimately met a violent end at the hands of his accusers.
Immersive & Interactive Experience
Free Admission Tuesday – Saturday 10 AM – 4 PM Immersive & Interactive Experience Begin your experience with an art installation depicting one of the origin stories of the Cherokee Nation. According to this account, the Cherokee people lived on a southern island surrounded by salt water. Interactive Augmented Reality Join us on your own […]
Cherokee Highflier: The Life & Career of Wauhillau LaHay
“Cherokee Highflier: The Life and Career of Wauhillau LaHay,” celebrates LaHay with photos and memorabilia from her captivating life.
Cherokee Cultural Pathway
FreeAdmission Open Daily24/7 Cherokee Cultural Pathway The Cherokee Cultural Pathway connects the Cherokee National Historical Museum, the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum and the Cherokee National Prison Museum in downtown Tahlequah. The physical walkway not only improves safety and accessibility to these important sites, but it has allowed visitors to immerse themselves in an experience […]
Cherokee National Research Center Archive
Free Admission Tuesday – Saturday 10 AM – 4 PM Cherokee National Research Center Archive Whether you are interested in visiting the research center, have a question about Cherokee history or culture, or have materials that you would like to donate to the Cherokee National Collection, we’d like to hear from you. Attraction Information Address […]
Jeff Edwards: The Future Will Be Cherokee
“Jeff Edwards: The Future Will Be Cherokee” merges Cherokee culture with contemporary imagery in the newest exhibition at the Cherokee Cultural Pathway.
One Land, One Nation: Cherokee Unification After Removal
Three groups with different experiences of Cherokee Removal reunited following the diaspora caused by U.S. Indian removal policies.
Demanding Recognition
Artwork: Cherokee Nation citizen Marilyn Vann remains an advocate for the rights of Cherokee Freedmen descendants. She was appointed to the Cherokee Nation Environmental Protection Commission in 2021. Source: Marilyn Vann. Freedmen continued to face indignities in the years before Oklahoma statehood. In 1883, the Cherokee National Council passed a law restricting per capita payments […]
War & Emancipation
Artwork: A plank residence in the Arkansas River Bottom, photographed by Allison Aylesworth. Source: Oklahoma Historical Society. The Civil War came to Cherokee Nation in 1861. The divide between the affluent, bicultural families and more conservative or traditional Cherokees widened over chattel slavery. Though the lines were not always clear-cut, wealthier slaveholding Cherokees tended to […]
Slavery in Cherokee Nation
Artwork: Two children near cotton, photographer unknown. Source: Oklahoma Historical Society. The enslavement of Black people among Cherokees began after it was introduced by Europeans in the 17th century. Forms of captivity already existed among the tribe, but the slavery of African-descended people was especially exploitive and dehumanizing. By the early 1800s, elite, mostly bicultural […]
