NORTHERN CHEROKEE NATION TO SEEK U.S. RECOGNITION AUG. 31

Curt Brown came to the celebration held by the Northern Cherokee Nation at Trail of Tears State Park Sunday looking for more than just diversion. Brown came from his home in Marquand looking for a connection to his past.

Like many of the dozens of people who came to the amphitheater behind the park's visitors center and watched a half-dozen people perform traditional Cherokee dances, he thought he might be Cherokee himself.

Mike Seabaugh of Cape Girardeau led the activities. Seabaugh said that because the Northern Cherokee refused to live on reservations, and because a state law that lasted into early this century excluded Indians from Missouri, many Northern Cherokee in Missouri and nearby states tried to hide their heritage for generations.

The tribe celebrated the 14th anniversary of then-Missouri Gov. Kit Bond's proclamation recognizing the Northern Cherokee as a tribe. The group is still looking for recognition from the federal government.

Seabaugh said the tribe will submit an application for recognition from the federal government Aug. 31. As part of it, the tribe is seeking to register as many people as possible who can verify that they are at least one-eighth Northern Cherokee.

Northern Cherokee, he said, are descended from Cherokee who migrated west to what is now Missouri and Arkansas in 1721 to escape the British, and from others who settled in the area after escaping the forced march of the Trail of Tears in 1819, Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh estimates that more than 1,000 have registered already.

The Indian drumming, dancing, storytelling and crafts exhibited at the park were not passed down through the generations because Northern Cherokees feared persecution if outsiders knew of their heritage. Seabaugh said Northern Cherokee have learned their culture from the Eastern Cherokee.

Brown, for example, said his grandmother was an Indian who "if anyone said anything about it, you'd have a fight on your hands."

His grandmother had a family and a farm and feared losing both if word of her ancestry got out, Brown said.

Was she Northern Cherokee? "She took the pertinent information to the grave with her," Brown said.

He wants to know. Brown said he always felt like an outsider, and getting in touch with his Indian heritage makes him feel connected to something larger.

Unlike his grandmother, Brown didn't want to hide his heritage. He had two thin braids reaching to his shoulders and a feather stuck in his ball cap.

Lisa Pinkerton of Jackson has found her Cherokee ancestry. Pinkerton, who was adopted, traced her biological ancestry and found that her great-great-great-grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee.

"I always kind of felt like I was Cherokee," she said, adding that as a child she was drawn to movies and anything else with Indians. Now she's trying to learn as much as she can about her Cherokee heritage.

Pinkerton said she is getting together the legal documents so she can register.

For information about registration contact the Northern Cherokee at 210 Independence, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63703.