In Memory Of Cherokee Chief John Ross

 This hour of Native Sounds-Native voices (NS-NV) Tobias (Omaha, Dakota, Navajo and Cherokee) and Aden (Rosebud Sioux) dedicated a playlist to Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross. He crossed over into the spirit world in 1866. He was known for disputing the removal of the Cherokee to Oklahoma otherwise known as “The Trail of Tears”. Also involved in the Cherokees remaining in North Carolina was a farmer by the name of Tsali. As the story goes he was involved in a scuffle with U.S. soldiers, one soldier was accidentally shot and killed. Tsali was to blame and the government was out to get the last of the Cherokee who were hiding out in the Smokey Mountains. The government was going to make a deal with the remaining Cherokees.  If Tsali would stand trial for murder the rest of the tribe could stay in North Carolina. This is how the Eastern Band of Cherokee came to remain in the Native land of North Carolina.

And to commemorate John Ross the Principal Chief of the Cherokee we put together a list of contemporary Cherokee artists like Rita Coolidge, Michael Bucher and Litefoot. I am of Cherokee descent and visited Cherokee, North Carolina during the summer of 2010. It was there that I got to observe a drama that reenacted the events that led up to the “Trail of Tears”. For more information about the Eastern Band of Cherokee log onto their website at www.cherokee-nc.com. Listen to the live broadcast of Native Sounds-Native Voices every Thursday morning from 8 – 10 a.m. CT on the web at KZUM.org or at AIROS.org.

- Tobias Grant, NS-NV Co-Host

“Reservation Blues” (Reservation Blues) Jim Boyd
“Long Ago An Indian” (Indian Boy) Edmund Bull
“Eagles in the Sky” (Lady) Jackie Bird
“Dakota Skies” (Dakota Skies) David Lohnes Jr.
“Born Under a Bad Sign” (Greatest Hits) Rita Coolidge
“Play That Deadly Jam” (Black Wolf’s Blues) Wade Fernandez
“Cherokee Rose” (Seven) Michael Bucher
“Still” (To All the Wild Horses) Cherokee Rose
“Muddy Road” (Walela) Walela
“Cherokee Stomp & For my people” (Good Day to Die) Litefoot
“Another Bad Deal” (Fortune Teller) Robert Richmond