On Friday, June 22, many people gathered in the Oklahoma town of Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, to cheer on the 19 bicycle riders who made the journey from northern Georgia to northeaster Oklahoma riding about 950 miles along the way.
This annual event was special this year as it was the 40th time it had happened. The bike ride’s purpose is to honor and remember those Cherokee ancestors as well as other Indigenous Native Americans who were forced by the same U.S. government they thought was supposed to work for them hundreds of miles across the North American continent to what is present-day Oklahoma. This year’s bike ride had a significant participant in Ashawna Miles, who is a descendant of the Cherokee Freedmen. While it may not be taught in the history books and it certainly wasn’t in mine, but the Cherokee people who lived in Georgia and other states owned enslave people. And those same enslaved people were forced along with the Cherokees and others to leave the land.
The riders included representatives of the Cherokee Nation, most of them in Oklahoma, but also from the Eastern Band Cherokees. Both Chuck Hoskins Jr., Principal Chief of the CN, as well as Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band, were present to remind everyone in attendance of the importance of the annual event. Kim Teehee, the first Cherokee delegate to the House of Representatives was the emcee of the Friday’s ceremonies.
Also present was Shawna Baker, who was one of the bicycle riders. Baker, sits on the CN Supreme Court as a justice. She also made note how the bicycle ride occurs during June which is Pride Month for the LGBTQIA community. Baker, herself, is gay and said the people of the Cherokee Nation are very diverse as well as very inclusive.
The Cherokee Nation has videos taken along the ride. Please go to their YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps_zVVEWlzU&list=PLZEkBhbUA_CVVVXYtK4h1u1RdAPbHBPzK
Zane Says 