TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Nation has welcomed back an exhibit that explores Black slavery in the reservation through the eyes of Freedmen and their descendants.
Called “We Are Cherokee: Cherokee Freedmen and the Right to Citizenship,” the exhibit – previously featured in Tahlequah, Tulsa and most recently Fort Smith, Arkansas, – is now on display at the Cherokee Nation Anna Mitchell Cultural & Welcome Center in Vinita, Oklahoma.
Travis Owens, vice president of cultural tourism at Cherokee Nation Businesses, briefly touched on the exhibit’s Nov. 1 return during the Tribal Council’s Nov. 10 Culture Committee meeting.
“We’re happy to bring that exhibit back home,” he said. “As you may know, it has traveled around a little bit.”
The exhibit will be displayed at the Anna Mitchell Cultural & Welcome Center through April 26, 2026. It features original art, stories, histories, images and documents of Cherokee Freedmen with a focus on their struggle to reclaim a treaty-protected right to Cherokee Nation citizenship.
“It is powerful because it is real and the people and their stories are real,” said Shella Bowlin, the Cherokee Nation’s first secretary of state of Freedmen descent, during the exhibit’s run in Arkansas. “The impact Black slavery had in Cherokee Nation is real.”
Freedmen were former slaves set free by the Cherokee Nation in 1863. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, in 1861 there were between 8,000-10,000 slaves throughout Indian Territory alone.
Of the Cherokee Nation’s 450,000-plus tribal citizens today, more than 15,000 are descendants of Cherokee Freedmen. Over the years, their citizenship rights fluctuated, and then in 2017 a federal court ruling determined that Freedmen citizens have full rights as Cherokee citizens based on the Treaty of 1866.”
The “We Are Cherokee: Cherokee Freedmen and the Right to Citizenship” exhibit initially opened in September 2022 at the Cherokee National History Museum in an effort to broaden understanding of the Freedman experience. It was later featured at the University of Tulsa’s Oklahoma Center for the Humanities before making its way to the U.S. Marshal’s Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
To learn more about Cherokee Nation exhibits, visit VisitCherokeeNation.com.
At the Nov. 10 Culture Committee meeting, Owens highlighted several other ongoing projects, including restoration of the Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch in Oologah.
The historic home and surrounding grounds have been closed since late March for renovations and new construction.
“We’re targeting a spring 2026 opening,” Owens said. “Once the crews finish the restoration, we also have to go in with exhibits in behind that.”
The Will Rogers home was built in 1875 and originally sat on more than 60,000 acres. Cherokee Nation purchased the property from the Oklahoma Historical Society in June 2023, marking a million-dollar investment in Rogers County.
A complete renovation is underway for the birthplace home, including foundation and structural work, a new roof, new windows, new HVAC and electrical systems, and both interior and exterior painting. An upgraded fire suppression system also will be installed. Additional work includes a new caretaker’s home and various upgrades throughout the property.
Owens added that Cherokee Nation cultural sites attracted more than 62,000 guests over the past fiscal year. Also, more than 1,000 people took part in a 12-hour Cherokee history course; 1,300 genealogy requests were addressed; and the Cherokee Artist Recovery Act team worked with 680-plus artists.
“Certainly, a lot going on and a lot of interest continued in our history and culture,” Owens said.
