Deborah Levine
DL Opinion columns

Moving Ross House Risks Erasing History – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

When I saw this article in Sunday’s Times Free Press, “John Ross House could be on move”, I knew I had to say something. Ross was chief of the Cherokee nation in the mid 1800s and the founder of Ross’s Landing. I love visiting his wooden home in Rossville and its ponds filled with ducks, swans and geese. The beautiful scene is inspiring and calming in a world where such scenes are increasingly rare. Further, relocating the home of Chief John Ross from Rossville to Oklahoma, would be a cancel event, removing a piece of history that we should preserve. 

That preservation can now be experienced at Ross’s Landing, which became part of the Trail of Tears. It’s where Native Americans were shipped west to reservations so that colonial settlers could take over their land. 

The Team Gadugi artists who are now featured at Ross’s Landing well understand that history and their comments helps us understand, too. “The Trail of Tears, a catastrophic event in history, passed through this place. A great many Cherokees perished on the Trail and this journey will never be forgotten. Through perseverance the Cherokee people survived. We continue to strive forward keeping our culture alive through strong family values and the retention of our Arts, our Traditions, and our Language.”

With “The Passage” project at Ross’s Landing, there was a sense of returning to what was taken from them. “It is our team’s honor and privilege to complete the circle begun by our ancestors so many years ago by bringing back to this area the vitality and visual strengths of our Cherokee forefathers’ artwork. Through this art installation, we feel as though we are symbolically returning to our ancestral homeland.” 

How could we possibly countenance shipping Ross’s home out to Oklahoma. Would it not resonate like a Trail of Tears moment? While the Cherokee Nation has built a solid community in Oklahoma, we should not dismiss the reality of the original reservations created by our government. Nor should we ignore that the people living on the reservations today continue to struggle.  

I take this a bit personally because I collaborated with the Cherokee Nation when I worked for the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I served with one of the Cherokee leaders on the Oklahoma Council Against Hate. Our mission was to tap down the growing White Supremacist and neo-Nazi movements in the region. 

I was stunned when the Native American community was used by international Holocaust Denier, David Irving, to help pass along his “Holocaust never happened” message. He obtained a room at the public library under the name “Native American Constitution Party” and invited his followers to join him.

The Cherokee Nation was horrified. The library didn’t stop this defamation, nor did law enforcement or any elected officials. They asked for my help so I attended the library event. The pro-Hitler attendees ranged from farmers to university professors. They considered Irving as “cute” and believed everything that he said. Oklahoma didn’t register with me as a haven for anybody.

The decision regarding Ross’s home has reportedly been made, although not revealed. That leaves many unanswered questions about its fate. We could wake up tomorrow to an empty lot. Then there is the possibility that it will be re-purposed and its history cancelled. Or it could fall apart with no funds to repair the damages sustained on its journey west. 

Being a National Historic Landmark may offer the John Ross home no protection in this decision-making process. But surely there’s a solution that honors its indigenous history. Start writing letters and rants demanding such solutions, and do it now!

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