Participation Type
Poster
Presentation #1 Title
Decolonizing the Appalachian Studies Classroom: A Digital Humanities Project about Cherokee Roundup and Removal in Georgia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Maps are effective pedagogical tools that boost students’ spatial thinking skills and help them grasp complex situations. Maps can also challenge the prevailing narrative of popular memory and tell an old story in new ways, e.g., America’s first major gold rush caused the Trail of Tears in which thousands of Cherokee were forcibly removed from southern Appalachia. This over-simplistic description omits much from the 10-year period from 1828, when gold the first white settlers found gold, to 1838, when the Cherokees were removed from the region. Fraudulent treaties enabled surveyors to stake out artificial sections, districts, and lots of Cherokee lands. The resulting maps meant a rapidity of road building, and eventually 14 removal forts, stations, and encampments were constructed near those roads. But by late summer 1838, after nearly 5,000 Cherokees were forcibly ejected from Georgia in just three weeks, soldiers left, and forts fell into obscurity and to a large extent, out of public memory. Based on the research of Sarah Hill, Trail of Tears historian, this project uses GIS mapping technology to reconstruct the location of old roads, and, to the extent possible, removal forts and routes. Animation in a digital environment will help deconstruct dominant narratives and bring to light counter-narratives. The poster will argue that mapmaking created the reality for white settlers and contributed toward the cultural genocide of Georgia Cherokee.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Marcia Bennett is a graduate research assistant for the Appalachian Studies Center in the College of Education at the University of North Georgia. She working on her masters in history and works at a historic site. She follows closely the literature of decolonizing museums and public spaces.
Decolonizing the Appalachian Studies Classroom: A Digital Humanities Project about Cherokee Roundup and Removal in Georgia
Maps are effective pedagogical tools that boost students’ spatial thinking skills and help them grasp complex situations. Maps can also challenge the prevailing narrative of popular memory and tell an old story in new ways, e.g., America’s first major gold rush caused the Trail of Tears in which thousands of Cherokee were forcibly removed from southern Appalachia. This over-simplistic description omits much from the 10-year period from 1828, when gold the first white settlers found gold, to 1838, when the Cherokees were removed from the region. Fraudulent treaties enabled surveyors to stake out artificial sections, districts, and lots of Cherokee lands. The resulting maps meant a rapidity of road building, and eventually 14 removal forts, stations, and encampments were constructed near those roads. But by late summer 1838, after nearly 5,000 Cherokees were forcibly ejected from Georgia in just three weeks, soldiers left, and forts fell into obscurity and to a large extent, out of public memory. Based on the research of Sarah Hill, Trail of Tears historian, this project uses GIS mapping technology to reconstruct the location of old roads, and, to the extent possible, removal forts and routes. Animation in a digital environment will help deconstruct dominant narratives and bring to light counter-narratives. The poster will argue that mapmaking created the reality for white settlers and contributed toward the cultural genocide of Georgia Cherokee.
