Surviving ‘despair in its thickest blackness’: Archaeological approaches to visualizing Cherokee Removal

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "What Is "Historical"?", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1889, Wahnenauhi (Lucy Keys), a survivor of the infamous “Trail of Tears”, wrote, that “despair in its thickest blackness” settled down on the Chiefs of the Cherokee as they prepared their people to relocate from their traditional homelands to “Indian Territory” in 1838. Her words are compelling—both for how intimate they feel and for the imagery they invoke of an encompassing blackness surrounding this episode. I argue that a similar blackness has developed over time that obscures the realities of Removal. This discussion focuses on how we visualize Cherokee Removal (aka the Trail of Tears) and what effect the lack of visibility has had on our relationship with this atrocity in American history. I will also focus on how archaeological approaches may provide ways to better see aspects of Removal that have been overlooked. I will additionally talk about the process of designing and implementing this work collaboratively.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• What Is "Historical"?

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow