Cherokee National Holiday
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The Cherokee National Holiday is an annual event held each Labor Day weekend in Tahlequah, OK. The event celebrates the September 6, 1839 signing of the Cherokee Nation Constitution in Oklahoma after the Trail of Tears Indian removal ended.
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[edit] Origins and activities
Originally began in 1953, the event has grown into one of the largest festivals in Oklahoma, attracting in excess of 70,000 attendees coming from all over the United States. Many attendees are also tribal members of the "Five Civilized Tribes" (the Cherokees, and also the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles). Others who routinely attend the event are the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in western North Carolina and also the United Keetowah Band which, like the Cherokee, are headquartered in Tahlequah.
The holiday hosts many different cultural and artistic events such as a two night inter-tribal pow wow, stickball, marbles, horseshoes and cornstalk shoot tournaments, softball tournaments, rodeos, car and art shows, gospel singings, the annual Miss Cherokee pagaent, the Cherokee National Holiday parade, and the annual "State of the Tribe" address by the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (currently Chad Smith).
[edit] Celebration themes
Each year a committee choses a new theme for the annual celebration. Some recent themes have included:
- The Cherokee Nation Continues in Full Force and Effect - (54th Annual) 2006
- Celebrating the State of Sequoyah - (53rd Annual) 2005
- The Spirit of the Trail - (52nd Annual) 2004
- The Strength of Our Nation - (51st Annual) 2003
- Building One Fire - (50th Annual) 2002
- Celebrating The Seven Clans - (49th Annual) 2001
[edit] See also
- Cherokee Tribe
- Cherokee language
- United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
- Native Americans in the United States
- Tahlequah, Oklahoma
