Cherokee Nation Partners With Gilcrease Museum For Exhibit

The Cherokee Nation is partnering with Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum to create a new exhibit about the tribe.

The Tahlequah-based tribe announced a $100,000 contribution on Thursday to help create a special Cherokee exhibition that will display about 100 items from Cherokee history.

The tribe says the exhibit, "Emergence of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory," will tell the story of Cherokees leading up to forced removal-- also known as the Trail of Tears -- and after the tribe settled in Tahlequah and began to form a new government.

Officials say among the items that are slated to be on display will be portraits of famous Cherokee leaders, and other art and artifacts reflecting the emergence of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory.  Museum officials will work closely with Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism in the development of the exhibition.

In November 2013, the Cherokee Nation donated a collection of more than 2,000 pages handwritten by John Ross, who served as Cherokee Nation Principal Chief leading up to forced removal and until his death in 1866.

11/8/2013 Related Story: Cherokee Nation Donates Historic Documents To Gilcrease Museum

This latest project complements the ongoing partnership between tribal translators and museum to translate Cherokee documents to English for the first time ever.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.