Cherokee National History Museum - Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Michelle W.

Great experience, educational, vibrant in color and sound. Art displayed and exhibits done very well made it easy to follow. The audio was great, a little low for older visitors. This is also the best price Free.

Mana B.

It was so wonderful to learn so much about my peoples history. And the displays were beautiful! You have to visit when you are in town!

Athena J.

This is a good educational museum, and its free! Being in Tahlequah, the capital city of the Cherokee Nation Indians, it's well suited to learn some Cherokee history here. The lower lever exhibit is under construction currently, but upstairs you will find is open for viewing.

Christina L. M.

We enjoyed it. The children were young and noisy, yet the hosts were kind.

Donna R. P.

A great museum highlighting the history and heritage of the Cherokee tribe. It starts with the origin story and takes you up to present day. In the special exhibits galley was an exhibit on the history of the Cherokee Freedom. They are noticeably excluded from the main gallery exhibit. The museum is pretty new and the quality and content of the exhibit reflects that. The grounds also have bits of history. However, the gift shop was a bit disappointing. Take note of the hours, the museum closes at 4 pm.

Michelle H.

Enjoyed a remarkable learning journey walking through the stories of the Cherokee Nation. The museum provided a poignant depiction of the plight of our people and their leaders, but also their strength and resilience to overcome and rise above the tragedy of the Trail of Tears. I was fortunate to have three historians (my cousins) alongside me to share their insight, but the guide was also very knowledgeable. So very grateful for this experience.

RUDEDOG F.

Very informative. It was very depressing to learn how bad the Cherokee were treated. Trail of tears. I recommend everyone go see this .

Rachel S.

On Wednesday we drove to Tahlequah, the capital city of both the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. Their reservation spans 14 counties in Northeastern Oklahoma.

In 1830, gold was discovered on Cherokee lands. The exact same year, not only were Cherokees legally prohibited from mining for gold on their own lands Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

In exchange for $5 million the Cherokee people would "exchange" their homelands for lands in Oklahoma. Not only were the people who signed the treaty on behalf of the Cherokee not elected officials of the tribe in any capacity, the US government never paid the money out, nor were the Cherokee given a seated representative in the US House of Representatives per the 1835 Treaty of New Echota.

More than 100,000 Native Americans, including the Cherokees were forcibly removed from their homes in the Carolinas, Appalachia and Alabama. The Seminoles of Florida even went to war for 7 years against the US government to try to hold onto their land. People were hunted, killed and those who were captured were forced to march a thousand miles on a journey that became known as "The Trail of Tears" due to 4,000 people dying on the forced relocation march.

After the Native Americans were forcibly removed, their land and gold mining rights were then given to wealthy white settlers in lotteries. This land became the massive plantations (corporate farms) of the slave-era.

I've been to Tahlequah before but they tore down the original museum that I visited in favor of turning this courthouse into a museum. Personally, the trail of tears exhibit was a better exhibit at the former museum. It always stuck with me how they had eyewitness accounts of US soldiers bayonetting pregnant women on the trail. It's just evil.