Mapping Tahlequah History: A Collaboration to Learn and Teach about Cherokee Places in Northeastern Oklahoma

Abstract

Abstract: Mapping Tahlequah History (MTH) is a mapping project wherein students work with community to create narratives that help the public to better understand the layers of history that surround the diverse populations of Tahlequah and the surrounding interrelated regions of Green Country in northeastern Oklahoma, known as the reservation land of the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees. Spaces within this land have found themselves at the center of contestation as different groups have claimed authority over them. Each group within these spaces offers unique narratives that they use to describe this part of what is now known as Oklahoma. This article features a roundtable that addresses how the mapping project came about and how its organizers have guided their students to address narratives from different peoples who have shaped and been shaped by the land. MTH pays particular attention to the people who inhabit Tahlequah, which is home to two Native Nations. This article introduces the past, present, and future of MTH as it develops to Indigenize mapping and collaboration among Native and non-Native communities and peoples.