When: closing January 31, 2019*
If you're looking for a fun exhibit to pass some time, this is not the show for you. This is the story of the removal of the Cherokee people from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to areas far west. 16,000 people were removed, of whom 4,000 died - this is staggering.
Before contact with Europeans, the Cherokee lived in a matrilineal society. Upon marriage, a husband joined his wife's clan and the children were considered members of their mother's clan as well. In the 1800s, during the Jackson administration, the Cherokee were forcibly evicted from their territory and made to travel to a new land in what is now Oklahoma.
Amazingly resilient, the Cherokee set up a new system of government, which survived until after the Civil War, when the American government insisted it disband. It was only in 1971 that the Cherokee were able to once again elect their own principal chief.
Verdict: A very sad story told very well.
*Note: due to the government shutdown, the Smithsonian is currently closed.
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