Lynda Peters-Jones, Director of Convention Sales for the Paducah Convention and Visitor's Bureau, said there have been some small meetings in Paducah, but this is the first time the national event has been held here.
She has been working with Alice Murphy of the TOTA for about two years to bring the event to Paducah, and said Murphy did research that confirmed that Paducah was part of the Trail of Tears.
Following passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Paducah was a water route used by four of the seventeen Trail of Tears detachments. According to the City of Paducah website, the detachment headed by Gustavus Drane purchased supplies in Paducah, and the Cherokees' Principal Chief John Ross stopped in Paducah (as part of the Drew Detachment) during midwinter 1838-1839. The city is one of the few water route sites where detachments are known to have stopped.
Based on this, a dedication will be held Friday at 5:30 pm for a wayside sign at the foot of Kentucky Avenue near the riverfront that indicates Paducah's involvement in the Trail of Tears. On Saturday, a similar dedication will be held at Fort Massac State Park at 11:30 am.
Several plenary and breakout sessions will take place during the 3-day event, along with storytelling sessions and music from Chicasaw flautist Jason Burwell and Cherokee National Treasure Tommy Wildcat.
As for attendance, Peters-Jones said, "With this conference, there's probably gonna be about 250 that will come in, and also the Chief of the Cherokee Nation will be here Sunday."
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., will give the closing address at 3:15 pm.
Peters-Jones said attendance tends to fluctuate from year to year, based on location.
"They had a conference last year that was in north Alabama and it was larger than this conference because there were more people that were involved, there were more activities, and more of tribes that were involved. This one involves the ones from southern Illinois and from Kentucky that were involved with the Removal Act," she said.
The Trail of Tears refers to a series of forced relocations of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern US to areas west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Indian Territory. The forced relocations took place after the Indian Removal Act was passed. History now shows that the relocated peoples suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while being led across several states to their destinations. Those who were forced to move included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations.
For a complete schedule of the convention, click the link below.
On the Net:
Tentative Agenda for Trail of Tears 2019 Convention
