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A Trail of Tears legacy--Embracing Cherokee culture in Tennessee

Cherokee Jamie Russell
Credit Thomas Wilmer
Cherokee Jamie Russell

Southeastern Tennessee Cherokees share their passion for Cherokee culture. Join Jamie Russell a ranger at Red Clay State Park on the outskirts of Cleveland TN. Afterwards we’ll visit with Cherokee artists Stone Wolf and Walking Bear.

As a tragic postscript to the interview with Jamie Russell recorded at Red Clay in June, Russell was brutally attacked and beaten by three people and admitted to the hospital in critical condition November 10th 2016.

His grandson Byron Russell was quoted in a November 15th WRCB TV Chattanooga Tennessee online report, “It was a hate crime. They told him they wanted to scalp an Indian and they almost killed him.”  
If you would like to make a contribution to Jamie Russell's medical bills CLICK HERE

The underbed music in this podcast, Cherokee Morning Song was performed by Regina Schmid

Recommended Cherokee destinations in Southeastern Tennessee and nearby North Carolina:

The Cherokee Interpretive Center at Red Clay State Historic Parkencompasses 263-acres and was the last seat of Cherokee national government before the 1838 enforcement of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 by the U.S. military.

The Oconaluftee Indian Village is a time machine transporting  you back to a living, working Cherokee Village of the 18th Century. Here, centuries old techniques for survival have been passed down from generation to generation and preserved in this living history site.

Hiwassee River Heritage Centerin Charleston. Charleston is the site of Fort Cass. The Cherokee Removal (Trail of Tears) was planned at this location, and the Cherokee Nation migrating to Oklahoma were required to register here on the “Trail of Tears” journey. This site is also certified by the National Park Service as an interpretive greenway.  

TheCherokee Removal Memorial Parkat Blythe Ferry—nine groups of Cherokees camped and crossed the Tennessee River at this site over a two-month period during the forced removal known as the Trail of Tears.

Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.
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