Native American artists have organized a day-long festival of music, storytelling, food and crafts as a fundraiser to support the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park at the site of the historic Blythe Ferry where the Tennessee and Hiwassee Rivers meet. There will be a silent auction featuring many items donated by the community.
The festival will be June 20, from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park located at 6800 Blythe Ferry Lane in Birchwood, Tn. All proceeds will be donated to the Park.
The festival is presented in partnership with city of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture. Sponsors include Starkey Printing, Bacon Products Corporation and Adams Lithographing Company.
The headliner is nationally known fiddler Arvel Bird, who won the 2007 Native American Music Awards (“Nammy”) Artist of the year. There will be many other entertainers throughout the day, including drumming, dancing, flute players, storytelling and a flute duel between Mike Serna and Ed Winddancer.
Audience members will vote for one of the two flutists by their donations, and the loser must admit that he is a “lousy musician and ugly.”
According to festival organizer Judy Serna, wife of flutist Mike Serna, the park is in need of funds for operations. “Mike and I were up there one day talking with Shirley Lawrence – a board member of Friends of the Cherokee Removal Park – who has played a huge role in getting the grants and state funding for this project. She told us about a large grant that fell through and how they now have no monies for operating funds. Mike suggested that we have a concert, and that's how all this got started.”
Anyone wishing to donate money or silent auction items before the event can contact Judy Serna at 322-5632 or judyserna@bellsouth.net. After the event donations should be made directly to the Park by contacting Shirley Lawrence at 368-2231.
The Park is an official Trail of Tears historical site. During the forced relocation to what is now Oklahoma, approximately 9,000 Cherokees and 500 Creeks camped and crossed this site after suffering through the long, dry summer in stockades under deplorable conditions. Between August and November 1838, nine detachments crossed the river by ferry at Blythe Ferry. This park, now a federally certified Trail of Tears site, is dedicated to the memory of these peoples.
The Cherokee Removal Memorial Park at Blythe Ferry has been 12 years in the making and has been made possible through grants and matching state funds. Those funds are now exhausted, and the Park now has no monies for operating expenses.
A board walk, wildlife overlook shelters and Visitor's Center have been completed. In front of the Visitors center is a 7-pointed star embedded in concrete symbolizing the seven Cherokee clans involved in the removal. A series of granite walls hold plaques with information about the history. An inset area (about 20'x10') holds a concrete map showing the removal routes. Plans for the park include a Cherokee Genealogy Library and a Memorial Wall where a list of the people on the rolls who were crossed by ferry, but funds are not available for these projects.
The park is adjacent to the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, which is an annual stop for migrating sandhill cranes between January and February.
Park rules prohibit alcohol or firearms. Camping and RV hookups are available at the nearby Grasshopper Creek Family Recreation Area, 961-2055 or grasshoppercreek.org