GIS Storytelling & the Cherokee Homeland: A Deep Mapping Project
A lot of new faces here since I’ve been attending these conferences. My family is related to Jack Baker, who told my dad’s oldest brother, Uncle Bill, about this conference—probably around 2003. Uncle Bill shared that info with my grandma, my aunt Clea, my dad, and eventually me. That’s how I got started.
I went to my first conference in Cherokee, North Carolina—maybe around 2004—and began learning about removal routes. I joined the Tennessee chapter and connected with people like Bill Jones, Shirley Lawrence, Cleta Townsen, and Floyd Ays, who really helped me figure things out.
Living in Nashville, I had no idea that Mill Creek—a site every Northern Route detachment camped at four miles from town—was just two miles from my house. That moment made me wonder, “Why don’t I know this? Why doesn’t anybody?” So, I started exploring how to overlay old maps onto new platforms using GIS.
I went back to school, attending Haskell Indian Nations University, where I was introduced to GIS. I asked, “Can we layer old maps onto modern ones and see where we are in the world?” The answer was yes—and I was hooked.
From Haskell, I went on to KU for a Master’s in Geography, and now I’m at West Virginia University completing my PhD. This “deep map” of Cherokee forced removal is my dissertation project. Everything I’ve learned since 2007—each skill, each tool, each perspective—has been poured into this work.
What makes this project unique is that it’s developed from a Cherokee perspective. It’s for the Cherokee Nation and especially for the young people—so they know where they come from.
This deep map is a multi-layered perspective of place—of our homeland. People often think that when we crossed the Tennessee River, we left our homeland. But if you look at colonial-era maps, like the 1755 Mitchell Map, our homeland stretched all the way to the Mississippi River and bordered the lands of the Six Nations, Catawba, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw. Our true homeland was about 135,000 square miles.
As our ancestors walked west, they were still moving through their homeland.
Demonstration of the Deep Map Web Experience
The site is built with Esri’s Experience Builder—a recent innovation allowing multi-layer perspectives. When you enter the site, you begin in the homeland of the Cherokee Nation and choose your language (English or Cherokee) and device type (large screen, tablet, or phone).
The homepage introduces the title: Walking in the Footsteps of My Ancestors: A Deep Map of Cherokee Forced Removal. The opening image of an owl symbolizes death—these people walked under a cloud of death.
Cherokee citizens will soon be able to enter their citizenship number to discover which removal routes their ancestors took. Then they can explore that route in-depth. For example, I know my family was in the Elijah Hicks and Peter Hildebrand detachments.
Let’s say I choose Peter Hildebrand. I then choose a perspective—young girl, young boy, mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa. Choosing “young girl” in English opens a chapter-based diary interface.
The diary begins on October 18: a young Cherokee girl, gifted with pen, paper, and ink from her teacher, decides to document her journey. Her father builds her a writing box. When the roundup happens, she’s allowed to retrieve one item: she chooses that writing box.
The font replicates handwriting from a fifth-grader in the 1800s, teaching users how historical documents looked. The diary can be read and listened to simultaneously, aiding readers unfamiliar with cursive.
The story chronicles the roundup, life in the stockades, her family’s placement in the Hildebrand detachment, and the early days of the journey. Each weekly journal entry corresponds with a portion of the route, and a future animation will show their movement along the map.
After the diary, users can choose “A Deeper Understanding” —
A Deeper Understanding
This modern-day section of the experience explores why the removal happened, through three key lenses:
Each section includes concise explanations, additional context, and links to relevant documents.
The Act of Remembering
“Elders tell us that the earth remembers our footprints…”
This section reflects on the power of remembering. Genocide happens when people forget. Physical presence, storytelling, and education keep the memory alive.
Modern Mapping Features
An interactive elevation map shows slope gradients along the removal route—gentle, moderate, or steep. Clicking on points like Bly Ferry leads to places like the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park.
Partners and Contributors
The site will feature Trail of Tears Association, National Park Service, and others. Each logo links to its respective site.
Closing Remarks
So that, in a nutshell, is what this deep map and web experience entail. It’s an evolving, living resource—and it’s designed to remember, educate, and empower.
Thank you.
GIS Storytelling & the Cherokee Homeland: A Deep Mapping Project A lot of new faces here since I’ve been attending these conferences. My family is related to Jack Baker, who told my dad’s oldest brother, Uncle Bill, about this conference—probably around 2003. Uncle Bill shared that info with my grandma,
