KENTUCKY is the contraction of a Cherokee word meaning "red land," "beautiful meadow," "disputed land," "Indian Land," and "bloody ground."

     For at least ten thousand years Native Americans lived and hunted within the present boundaries of Kentucky. The remnants of these cultures, known as the Moundbuilder People, can be seen at several locations around Marion, including Tolu and Mantle Rock.


Kentucky was once home to vast buffalo herds.


     However, by the time of the first widespread European settlement in 1774-75, very few Native Americans still resided in Kentucky. The three major tribes that influenced Kentucky are the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Shawnee.

     A small portion of the Chickasaw nation lived in western Kentucky and Tennessee in what is now known as "the Jackson Purchase," after Andrew Jackson, who purchased the counties west of the Cumberland River from the Chickasaws. In 1818, the Chickasaw gave up its claim to these lands and moved westward.

 


Recreation of Shawnee dwellings

     The Shawnee were a powerful and widespread nation whose lands included what is now part of Ohio and Indiana. They at one time or another lived in Ontario, Florida, and everywhere in between. The Shawnee claimed Kentucky for a hunting ground and jealously guarded the region. Groups of Shawnee warriors traveled throughout the northern and central portions of Kentucky on hunting expeditions.
      The last Shawnee town in Kentucky, located in present-day Clark County, was abandoned by 1754. The Shawnee raided the early European settlements of Kentucky and did not give up their claims to the area until after the War of 1812, upon the death of their brilliant military leader, Tecumseh.

     There was a small group of Cherokee who lived in the southeastern portion of the state. The Cherokees claimed all of Kentucky east of the Cumberland River.

     Other Native groups living in Kentucky in historical times include the Yuchi, Mingo, Seneca, Teehanahmah, and Miami.

     Under pressure from the colonial governments, the Cherokees formed a central government in 1827, with a written constitution, elected government and court system in their capital in New Echota, GA.
      In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, requiring Indians in the Southeast to relocate to "Indian Territory," what's now Oklahoma. Because of numerous treaties, many Cherokees thought this order did not apply to them. In fact, several Cherokee communities were untouched by the Removal because they had given up claims of sovereignty and had accepted US citizenship.
     The final Removal took place in the winter of 1838-39, and is known as the Trail of Tears because of all the deaths along the way. At least 16,000 Cherokees were rounded up for relocation.


Mantle Rock

     One of the area sites associated with the Trail is Mantle Rock in neighboring Livingston County. This is a natural rock shelter, 30 feet tall and 180 feet long, that was used when the frozen Ohio River prevented the ferry from taking the Cherokees across to Golconda, Illinois.
   Map to Mantle Rock

      Also, a number of Cherokees remained in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, where they married into local families. These people are sometimes called the Slumber People or the Stick People. Many of the deportees simply left the Trail and remained in the communities along the way between Clarksville, Tennessee and Golconda, Illinois.

     As a result, most Kentuckians who claims Native American ancestry are descended from the Cherokee.

  
Native American history in Kentucky is cloaked in mystery because:

  • There were never any reservations in Kentucky.
  • Since there were no tribes living within the state, the government of Kentucky did not keep records of the tribes.
  • Because of the prejudices of the day, including laws against inter-marriage, Native Americans chose not to disclose their heritage in public documents. This is why many descendants have difficulty in finding evidence of Native American ancestry in census records.

Marion is also home to an annual powwow, and has become a center of the resurgent Cherokee language, with courses frequently offered at the Ed-Tech Center.



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