ADRIAN MA, HOST:
As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, many Americans are making it a point to visit historic sites like the Liberty Bell or President George Washington's home. But for one group of American Indians, their 250th itinerary is pretty different. They've been traveling to historic sites in states from where their ancestors were forcibly removed. From member station WYSO, Adriana Martinez-Smiley takes us there.
ADRIANA MARTINEZ-SMILEY, BYLINE: The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma are descendants of the Shawnee people who lived in Ohio. The tribe organizes a trip to go back there every couple of years.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUS BRAKING)
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: This time, it was a caravan of 52 Eastern Shawnee citizens traveling by bus and car nearly 700 miles from their tribal headquarters in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. One of their first stops on a sunny, 80-degree morning was at the Great Council State Park, where they were greeted by a tour guide, Steve Cuff.
STEVE CUFF: Welcome back.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's good to be back.
CUFF: Good.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: This area was originally called Old Chillicothe, one of the largest known 18th century Shawnee villages in the state. Eastern Shawnee Chief Glenna Wallace initiated these trips shortly after she was elected in 2006. She says Ohio is home.
GLENNA WALLACE: So while we can document having been in 27 different states, it was here in Ohio when we were forcibly removed in 1832.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: Amber Graham (ph) says she is a descendant of Chief Blackfish, one of the Shawnee leaders of the Chillicothe band. It was her first time visiting the area.
AMBER GRAHAM: I like to see where they walked, what they did. And it feels like you can feel a little bit of their presence and what they've been through, and it can get a little emotional.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: Graham and her sister, Ashley Aviles (ph), we're looking forward to seeing Serpent Mound. It's a 1,300-foot-long earthen mound shaped like a serpent. The National Historic Landmark was built by Native Americans more than 2,000 years ago. The sisters had only seen it in photos. Aviles says she'd been to Ohio once before with her grandmother some 20 years ago.
ASHLEY AVILES: I loved going on it with my grandma, but I didn't get to appreciate, at that age, what I am actually experiencing, how to tie it back to our ancestors.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: Another stop on the tour was the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a proud moment for some, since Shawnee people are likely descendants of the builders of the earthen mounds, which were used as ceremonial centers.
CUFF: Pretty amazing. They did all this without air conditioning, too, right?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I'm sure it was hot.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: One of those sites called the Octagon Earthworks had been leased to a country club and, until last year, was a golf course.
CLINT KISSEE: It's the first time that they haven't been playing golf out here while I was here.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: Clint Kissee says it was discouraging to see the land used that way. But this day, he felt differently.
KISSEE: Excited today.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: Yeah.
KISSEE: Excited today. I went and left a little tobacco and said a prayer, and it's a beautiful place. Starting to see some native plants come back - medicinal plants and forage plants. And so it was - it's been a good day.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: It's that type of feeling Chief Wallace wants Eastern Shawnee citizens to have, despite being forced off the land long ago.
WALLACE: The past is the past. Let's build upon it, and let's be more positive. And we hope to be able to return and have a presence here.
MARTINEZ-SMILEY: Wallace plans to retire as chief this fall. She hopes the tribe's trips to their homelands will continue.
For NPR News, I'm Adriana Martinez-Smiley in Dayton, Ohio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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