Interconnectedness being one of the topics we talk most about when discussing Native American values, it seems important to discuss some of the connections that I made while I was at Cherokee. One of the main things i noticed was the name Tsali everywhere. Even the street the museum was on was named Tsali and a significant portion of the Trail of Tears portion of the exhibit. More so, I found out that Casino Drive is also known as Tsali road, which is somewhat disturbing that the name was changed. The name change shows how tradition is replaced with profit, and how the casino is becoming a dominant force on the reservation.
With the idea of interconnectedness in mind, one of the saddest thing I saw at Cherokee was the mound separated from the reservation. With the homeland of the Cherokee separated from their sovereign land, it is odd to think that the one piece of land that is not under the sovereignty of Cherokee is the motherland.
One thing that I cannot relate to the course but have to talk about because of how stunning it is, is the amount of money that newly adult Cherokee people receive from the casino. The revenue that the casino creates is amazing, but outside of the obvious cost to the reservations culture, the ramifications of those who come into all of this money are still unknown. The fact that there are courses that teach how to deal with receiving that amount of money at once says more about it than I could. Only time will tell what the casino will bring for Native American culture, and it will be very interesting to visit Cherokee in a decade or so and see how things have changed.
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