Cherokee of Georgia powwow unites communities, preserves indigenous heritage

When driving to the tribal grounds of the Cherokee of Georgia, a driver must go through Florida before looping back inland to the small town of St. George, where the annual Spring powwow has been held by the tribe for nearly 50 years.

Held this year on the weekend of April 2, hundreds gathered on the property to camp for three days of traditional dancing, music, art, and community vendors in celebration of Southeastern indigenous culture.

Friday evening saw the Grand Entry, with all eyes on the center arena as MC Rick Kelly kicked off the night by calling in veterans to proudly march around the circle. Flags from each branch of the service were held aloft. 

Veterans were a clear focal point of the festivities. According to the USO, Native Americans serve at five times the national average, and their pride in that service was clear as tribal members danced throughout the evening under American flags hung over the length of the arena. 

Within the tribe, service is seen as a contemporary way to honor and take part in the Cherokee custom of becoming a warrior. “As Native Americans, our warriors are important. I think we all know why. Because they protect us,” said Jane Winkler, tribal liaison. “… They are motivated by love. They want to protect their loved ones.”

While regalia often honored traditional cultural elements, it also allows for significant expressions of individuality, explained Winkler. Men and women often incorporated personal details into their dress, which could vary from more casual to formal attire, “comparable to a prom dress,” she said..

Clothing was often related to a unique dance in which the design emphasizes specific movements. Women’s straight attire features an ornate fringed shawl worn over the shoulders, where “the goal of it is to move in a way where you’re standing perfectly straight, but your fringe is just swaying in the wind,” described Winkler.

The evening started with a grass dance. The traditional way to start a powwow, this dance is often associated with the blessings that prepare the grounds for the night ahead. Men in ornate regalia danced in time with the drums, with the pendulum sway of their fringes echoing the beat. 

Other dances, like the duck and dive and the sneak-up, were clear crowd favorites, with choreography that mimicked detailed, elaborate hunting scenes.

The percussionists were accompanied by the rhythmic singing of over a dozen men seated in the center of the arena, where the night’s dancers revolved around them as if they were the circle’s beating heart. 

The powwows are thrown twice a year, and the spring and fall events are beloved stops on the Southeastern powwow circuit. They serve as a critical place for people to connect with their culture. Shaman Red Nose of Jacksonville, Florida, described the event as very emotional, as their ancestors were not always allowed to gather publicly due to “anti-Indian” sentiment. 

Despite a recent injury, Shaman Red Nose came to dance anyway, eager for connection. “As a medicine woman, I am in connection with the creator. With every step, every march, it is painful for me, so it’s really a prayer. I have to ask the creator for strength.”

The Cherokee of Georgia are descended from ancestors who fled the forced displacement of their people in the early 19^th century, when tribes of the southeast were involuntarily migrated from their ancestral home in Northern Georgia to new lands west of the Mississippi River by the U.S. government. Those who managed to escape the relocation formed new homes in South Georgia and parts of Florida, adding a particular resonance to the powwow’s location. 

“The reason that we have powwows is as a way to get people together,” said Winkler. Her efforts to organize these events have helped them to become a local touchstone for these dispersed communities to reunite. 

This relocation of the Cherokee was part of a larger effort on behalf of the U.S. government to forcibly remove tribes from their native lands as sanctioned by the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Referred to as The Trail of Tears, the forced resettlement amounted to a death march, with over 60,000 members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Choctaw nations displaced and thousands dying due to exposure, starvation, and disease.

The tribe received state recognition in 1988 and has used their 5019(c)(3) nonprofit status to preserve and share the Cherokee culture. Their lands are home to one of the country’s few traditional seven-sided council houses, which is actively used for conducting tribal affairs. The next powwow will be held this autumn. 

This article appears in Coastal Lens.