A woman standing on sidewalk looking up at The Cherokee Guardian statue.

The Cherokee Guardian at Lanier Islands.

Long before the European settlers came to this area, a very proud Cherokee Nation roamed the foot hills and mountains of this picturesque land, and several years ago, that history was recognized at Lake Lanier Islands Resort in the form of exquisite bronze statues by sculptor Art Oldham.

The Cherokee Nation in Northeast Georgia was of Iroquoian lineage from the Great Lakes Region and the largest of the tribes in the Southeast. They called themselves “Ani’-Yun’ wiya” or “Principal People” and controlled more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachians by 1650 with a population estimated at 22,500.

Their nation was a confederacy of towns, each subordinate to supreme chiefs. When encountered by Europeans, they were an agricultural people who lived in log homes, not tee pees, and observed sacred religious practices. In most cases, the Cherokee were far better educated and civilized than most of the settlers.

Looking from ground to sky, a bronze Cherokee Warrior holds a walking stick with one foot on a rock.

Bronze Cherokee warrior.

Though the Cherokee, as well as other Indian tribes, sided with the British during the Revolutionary War, they quickly adapted to the white man’s culture, and even volunteered to fight with Andrew Jackson against the British in the War of 1812. Nevertheless, Cherokee culture continued to flourish with the invention of the Cherokee syllabary in 1821. This system, in which each character represents a syllable, produced rapid literacy. It made possible their written constitution, the spread of Christianity, and the printing of the only Indian newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix in 1828. The newspaper acted as the official voice of the Cherokee government for its first seven years before being silenced during the roundup to march the Cherokee Nation on the “Trail of Tears” to reservations in Oklahoma.

This happened because in 1830 the Congress of the United States passed the “Indian Removal Act.” Although many Americans were against the act, most notably Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett, it passed anyway. President Jackson quickly signed the bill into law. The Cherokees attempted to fight removal legally by challenging the law in the Supreme Court and by establishing an independent Cherokee Nation. At first the court seemed to rule against the Indians. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the Court refused to hear a case extending Georgia’s laws on the Cherokee because they did not represent a sovereign nation. In 1832, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee on the same issue in Worcester v. Georgia. In this case Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the Cherokee Nation was sovereign, making the removal laws invalid. The Cherokee would have to agree to removal in a treaty. The treaty then would have to be ratified by the Senate.

Three bronze deer in a grassy open area.

Deer art at Lanier Islands.

A bronze statue of a bear with a fish in its mouth.

Bronze bear sculpture.

Despite the warnings of Chief John Ross and the support of most of the Cherokee Nation, several tribal leaders, who only had a following of around 700 of the 17,000 Cherokee in North Georgia, signed a treaty for the whole tribe. This action gave Jackson the legal document he needed for the removal. Among the few who spoke out against the ratification were Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, but it passed by a single vote. So, in 1838 the United States began the removal to Oklahoma. When he was ordered to remove the Cherokee, General John Wool resigned his command in protest, delaying the action. His replacement, General Winfield Scott, arrived at the Cherokee Capital on May 17, 1838 with 7,000 men and began moving the tribe.

In one of the saddest episodes in history, men, women, and children were taken from their land, herded together with minimal facilities and food, and then forced to march a thousand miles in horrible conditions. About 4,000 Cherokee died as a result of the “The Trail of Tears.”

A bronze statue of a standing Cherokee Warrior with headdress and drum.

Bronze Cherokee warrior sculpture on the golf course at Lanier Islands.

Ironically, a country formed 50 years earlier on the premise “… that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…” brutally closed the curtain on a culture that had done no wrong.

Therefore, with great pride and humility, I believe that the Cherokee Nation and my Cherokee ancestors would be eternally grateful for this striking recognition in superb art from the hands of Art Oldham!

Photos: by Bill Vanderford