Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading

13 Moons by Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain

At the age of twelve, an orphan named Will Cooper is given a horse, a key, and a map and is sent on a journey through the uncharted wilderness of the Cherokee Nation. Will is a bound boy, obliged to run a remote Indian trading post. As he fulfills his lonesome duty, Will finds a father in Bear, a Cherokee chief, and is adopted by him and his people, developing relationships that ultimately forge Will’s character. All the while, his love of Claire, the enigmatic and captivating charge of volatile and powerful Featherstone, will forever rule Will’s heart. In a voice filled with both humor and yearning, Will tells of a lifelong search for home, the hunger for fortune and adventure, the rebuilding of a trampled culture, and above all an enduring pursuit of passion.

Named ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by Los Angeles Times Book Review, Chicago Tribune, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Cherokee Trail of Tears by David G. Fitzgerald and Duane King

In 1838, Federal troops imprisoned 13,000 Cherokees in preparation for the Cherokees Removal from their native lands in the southeastern United States to the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma. Today, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail commemorates the Cherokees and the paths that seventeen Cherokee detachments followed. The trail encompasses 2,200 miles of land and nine states. The photos in this incredible book tell the story of the trail, while paying tribute to the seventeen Cherokee detachments that were pushed westward into Oklahoma. It documents one of the most heart-stirring and tragic stories in American history.

Footsteps of the Cherokees: A Guide to the Eastern Homelands of the Cherokee Nation by Vicki Rozema

Footsteps of the Cherokees divides the Cherokees' eastern homeland into 19 geographical sections and explores many of the historic Cherokee sites in these areas. Sites range from Moccasin Bend in Chattanooga, inhabited by Cherokees and earlier Indian cultures and considered one of the most important archaeological complexes within a United States city, to the Qualla Boundary, the home of the Eastern Cherokee reservation, where visitors can still experience the historic Cherokee culture. For each site, Rozema gives historical background, directions to the site, and the hours of operation and telephone numbers if the site is located within a park or museum area.

The book also includes an overview of Cherokee history that sets the stage for the tours of the historic sites. Donna Wheelehan, Recordkeeper of CCSV, used this book quite extensively to plan a trip to the Eastern homelands in June 2008.