(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
Society / Photo Essay / November 8, 2024

Holding On to Indigenous Heritage in Georgia

Although Georgia is often left out of the Native American narrative, a small but mighty community in the state is keeping a strong grip on its culture and history.

Story by Sheen Roetman-Wynn and Photographs by Larry Towell

In many Indigenous cultures, time is cyclical, not linear like in Western traditions. And so to begin the story of Georgia’s Indigenous people, we will start at the end. Which is to say, we’ll start from today and work backward.

While there are currently no federally recognized tribes in Georgia, 2020 Census data tells us more than 214,000 self-identified Indigenous people reside here. Although the past few years have brought long-overdue visibility to Indigenous peoples around the world, Georgia very much remains an oft-forgotten part of our story.

(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)

The momentum of recent global racial justice movements combined with the local efforts to stop “Cop City” in Atlanta has led to more attention being paid to Indigenous issues in the region by teachers, nonprofits, city and state representatives, and others. This, in turn, opened up avenues for further conversation and growth, particularly surrounding the continued use of a racially based mascot by Atlanta’s Major League Baseball team, the Braves.

Georgia’s Native American population is as diverse as you might expect, and as Atlanta’s metro area continues to grow and attract people from all over, tribal diversity in the area grows and expands as well.

The state does recognize three tribes: the Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Council, the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee, and the Lower Muscogee Creek Tribe. While many Native Americans are enrolled citizens of their tribes (regardless of federal recognition status), others are not, due to individual tribal restrictions on membership. Most tribal citizens can vote in their tribal elections even if they don’t live on their reservation.

(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)

Native Americans didn’t become United States citizens until 1924, when President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act. His inspiration is often attributed to the high number of Native Americans who enlisted in the armed forces during World War I, and it would still be some time before Natives gained full civil rights via the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Almost 100 years earlier, in 1834, four years after President Andrew Jackson successfully passed the Indian Removal Act, the forced removal of Creek citizens began in Georgia, with the removal of the Cherokee beginning in 1838. In the end, more than 60,000 people would be forced from their homes in the Southeastern United States.

(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)

Just before President Jackson’s congressional success, in 1828, the General Council of the Cherokee Nation established a printing press in New Echota, Georgia. The Cherokee Phoenix, published in both Cherokee and English, was the first Native American newspaper in the country.

The land that now makes up the state of Georgia is itself a reflection of the rich history and cultural legacy of the area’s Original Peoples. From mound complexes such as Ocmulgee and Etowah to other sites scattered across the state, these locations provide insight into the lives, beliefs, and traditions of the Indigenous peoples who have lived here for thousands of years.

New Echota, “the Town That Disappeared.” Originally established in 1825 as the seat of government for the Cherokee nation it was also the site of the first Indian-language newspaper and the first Native American courthouse and one of the earliest experiments in national self-government by an Indian tribe. The treaty of New Echota was signed here in 1835, relinquishing Cherokee claims to land east of the Mississippi and beginning the forced removal of the Cherokee. The village became a ghost town and its land was given away to white settlers in a lottery. Calhoun, Georgia. October 2024.(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
Cherokee Trail of Tears location on current Highway 411 indicating a section of the road once part of the trail. The Cherokee Nation, along with some slaves and Creek travelled by horseback, wagon, and on foot. Approximately 4,000 perished of hunger, cold and disease. Rome, Georgia. October 2024.(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
The current location of what was once Cedar Town Camp. It was the first military post and detention center built to imprison the Cherokee before they were moved to other locations for removal on the Trail of Tears. Seven thousand federal and state troops had been ordered into the Cherokee Nation for forced eviction. On May 26, 1838, the roundup began. They were taken at gunpoint from their homes and fields, disallowed from taking any possessions and imprisoned in stockades until their removal to the west. Their houses were burned behind them. Cedar Town, Georgia. October 2024.(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
Ocmulgee site. Delineation of original plaza area, which later became a trading post. The site had been visited by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in the 16th century, who unintentionally left behind European disease killing of 80–90 percent of the population. The Ocmulgee site preserves the 17,000-year record of human habitation in the American southwest. Last inhabited by the Muscogee Creek who refused to give up their land, known as the Ocmulgee Oil Fields, were sent to ‘Indian Territory” (present-day Oklahoma) on the the Trail Of Tears. Macon, Georgia. October 2024.(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)
(Larry Towell / Magnum Photos)

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

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Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Sheena Roetman-Wynn

Sheena Roetman-Wynn is a freelance writer and editor, and the education manager at the Indigenous Journalists Association.

Larry Towell

Larry Towell is known for his coverage of historical events, human rights and conflict, complemented by personal projects that have resulted in 16 books and several music projects and films.

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