Introduction and summary of our struggle today:
The latest census of Tennessee lists its American Indian population at 40,000 and growing. This number is possibly
an even higher number than the 40,000 that is being reported. As Tennessee's Indian People recover their
histories and identities, these numbers will swell to reflect a more accurate count of the People who still live in Tennessee
or who have close family ties to the area that is now called Tennessee.
Tennessee Indians are continuing their cultures and languages that had to sometimes go undergound in order for the
people to survive. Tennessee's Indian people did not all leave on the Trail of Tears, they simply hid out for survival's
sake. The grandchildren of Tennessee's Tribal People are still Walking that Trail of Tears as they deal with new oppression
and disenfranchisement.
However, many Tennessee Tribal People are now working together to improve their social and economic living
conditions and to continue their cultures more openly with the assistance of governmental help that is available to them
and with the volunteer efforts of many concerned Indians all across Indian Country who are aligning themselves
with this worthy effort.
Tennessee Indians are learning about International Law and how all indigenous people are given the rights under
the United Nations to self-identify and to continue their cultures or to reclaim their cultures if they were stolen from them.
Please read on to learn more about the histories of the original people of Tennessee.
Click Here for Some Interesting Information on Tennessee Indian History