The heritage they left behind: How one local museum tells Indigenous histories [Video]

What you know as the Tennessee Valley used to be home to all five nations of what Europeans called the “Civilized Tribes.” The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole all built settlements in the southeast before European contact in the Americas. But after the Indian Removal Act of 1830, they were almost all sent west to Oklahoma as part of the Trail of Tears. The museum event today told visitors about the heritage those groups left behind.

Some of the tools and weapons showcased today were used to hunt game or cook food. They included cooking pots made from pine straw, arrows made from several different materials, animal hides, a blow gun, a rake, and an atlatl used to throw traditional hunting spears.

The site director overseeing the ceremonial mound …