Bishop is the author of Agatahi: The Cherokee Trail of Tears and other books about Cherokee history and was previously the president of the Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association. He is an authority on the Cherokee and relocation of Southeastern Indians to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
Tuesday’s presentation is expected to provide an overview of Cherokee culture in north Georgia and then describe the 800-mile journey from the Cherokee homelands of the Southeast to what later became Oklahoma.
Bishop will explain how Cherokee people in Georgia were removed by train or by boat and traveled on the rivers to reach the West, in addition to making the journey on foot.
“The truth of history is often more complicated and more interesting than the version we think we know,” explains Bishop.
In his work at the Funk Heritage Center, Bishop is leading preparations for a new exhibit on the Trail of Tears that will open in the Center’s Buffington Gallery in early 2019. The Center serves as Georgia’s Official Frontier and Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center. It is also recognized by the National Parks Service as a Trail of Tears Interpretive Site.
Visitors to the new exhibit can expect to learn more about the daily life of the Cherokee people in Georgia before their forced removal in 1838. Some may be surprised to learn that the Cherokee owned plantations, owned businesses such as blacksmiths and saw mills, and produced their own newspaper, Cherokee Phoenix.
Several new discoveries were made during research and gathering artifacts for the exhibit and Bishop will share those details during his talk. Copies of his book will be available for purchase and Bishop will take questions and sign books following the presentation.
