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RIVERDALE, GA: I am Will W.
Rogers, Director, National Cherokee Library, Moultrie, GA. I was
born in Claremore, Rogers County, Oklahoma, March 7, 1941, and
raised in California. I was named after a great comedian of the
early 20th Century, Will Rogers and his pilot, Wiley Post. I am a
federally recognized Cherokee through the Sovereign Cherokee Nation,
Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
I served in the Army for over 30
years. I retired as a sergeant major. While on active duty, for five
years, I served as an instructor, a writer, and a developer for
course curriculum while assigned to the U.S. Army Chaplain Center
and School, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. In addition to my tour of
duty in the Army, I have participated in stage, film and video
productions. The film and videos were for training chaplain
assistants to set up a chapel and for field services. After I
retired from the Army, I continued to work as an actor, stage and
film director, and producer for screen, television, and commercial.
I have written a screenplay: Someone Special; the radio play: The
Hallowe'en Show; and an infomercial for Lithia Springs. My webpage
is at
www.willwrogers.actorsite.com
Wherever I go or wherever I speak,
I am taken with the amount of mis-information and misconception that
is perpetuated concerning membership in the Cherokee Nation and
about being Cherokee. It seems that everyone is Cherokee or has a
relation who "has the features of a Cherokee." This reminds me of
the Walt Disney song from "The Aristocats:" "Everyone wants to be a
cat." "Cat" can be substituted with Cherokee. There have been
occasions where I have heard "my grandmother or great grandmother
was an Indian princess." If this were the case, she was busy and
caused the "birth of a nation." Though, there is some truth in this
statement since the British appointed Chief Moytoy Emperor of the
Cherokees. Moytoy was appointed emperor so that they could work with
one representative who spoke for the Cherokee. In reality, the
Cherokee Nation was democratic. The Cherokee Nation was part of the
Iroquoian Confederacy. An elected chief and elected representatives
governed the confederacy. Representatives from each tribal group
were voted in by popular vote of the people. This was perpetuated
until Moytoy. After Moytoy' s death, the Cherokee Nation returned to
its democratic government. The democratic form of government remains
even today. The Cherokee Nation has just completed elections for
Principal Chief, Deputy Principal Chief and for its council members.
Traveling in the past and
exploring family history makes discovery of new family members quite
exciting. Sometimes family history entwines with the historical past
and helps make historical facts more personal. For example, my
great, great, great grandfather James Foster was a captain in the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend, 1814. He fought under the command of
General Jackson. Another grandfather fought in the War of 1812.
One of the best sources to begin
your research is to go to the Cherokee Nation web page at
www.cherokee.org.
This will take you to the Cherokee Heritage Center and to its
Genealogy Department. From there you can find hyper links to other
Cherokee genealogical web pages. For a given fee the genealogy
staff, Heritage Center, will research your request. Another source
of information is now at New Echota Museum, New Echota, and Georgia.
Ms. Martha A. Redus, genealogist, passed away recently. Her research
concerning Cherokee history and family history is well known. She
could always be found at the National Archives in East Point,
Georgia. After her death, she bequeathed all her papers and research
to the New Echota Museum.
This article just touches on the
highlights of Cherokee genealogy. I plan in subsequent articles to
discuss the rolls, treaties and some of the history of our people.
This will be just enough to hopefully create an interest in pursuing
further information and correct those misconceptions about the
Cherokee Nation-past and present. Censuses, rolls, rosters and other
means of accounting for the Cherokee were devised. There are
approximately 52 different rolls available at the National Archives,
Fort Worth, Texas and East Point, Georgia. I will also discuss some
of the books available for research. There are numerous books on the
subject and I will write on the main ones. There are many important
and great nations. The Cherokee Nation is one of them. More later...
-By
Will W. Rogers, Cherokee
See also...
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