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Senate Resolution 84
By: Senators Gooch of the 51st, Kennedy of the 18th, Strickland of the 17th, Beach of the
21st, James of the 35th and others
A RESOLUTION
Commending the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of
1
Cherokee Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the historical tribes that once2
called Georgia their home, including the Yuchi Tribe, Chickasaw Nation, Seminole Nation,3
Seminole Tribe of Florida, Shawnee Tribe, and all tribes; and for other purposes.4
WHEREAS, the ancestors of today's Southeastern tribes and other Native peoples have for5
millennia inhabited the lands of the present day State of Georgia. The Lower Muscogee6
Creek, a major tribe, occupied towns on the Fall Line, the Piedmont, and coastal plain areas.7
They were not one tribe but several tribes that formed a powerful confederacy. The8
Cherokee, another major tribe, occupied the mountains of northern Georgia; and9
WHEREAS, the arrival and settlement of General James Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony10
of Georgia, opened a new chapter in the histories of the Native peoples of said territory; and11
WHEREAS, the State of Georgia acknowledges the significant role that the Native American12
tribes have played in permitting the birth of this colony to take root, such as Tomochichi; and13
WHEREAS, in 1801, the first mission school to the Cherokee and the Lower Muscogee14
Creek was established at Spring Place, Georgia. The Moravian mission became a model for15 23 LC 112 1255
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ministry, education, and farming techniques, and in subsequent years, a friend and ally to the
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chiefs and tribal heads at New Echota, capital of the Cherokee Nation; and17
WHEREAS, on November 12, 1825, New Echota was officially designated as the capital of18
the Cherokee Nation, and the tribal council also began a building program that included19
construction of a two-story council house, a supreme court, and later, the office of the first20
Indian-language newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, which used the new syllabary created by21
the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah; and22
WHEREAS, the Native American sovereign rights to their lands and nations were confirmed23
by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Worcester vs. Georgia, in which Chief24
Justice John Marshall opined that all Muscogee Creek land east of the Mississippi is that of25
nations and that the federal government had the sole right to deal with the Indian nations in26
North America. Justice Marshall also clearly stated that neither the states nor the federal27
government had the right of possession to Native lands nor political dominion over the laws28
enacted by Native peoples; and29
WHEREAS, in subsequent years prior to 1830, relationships with all Native tribes began to30
deteriorate. In 1826, the Treaty of Washington was signed, which ceded to the United States31
all Muscogee Creek land east of the Mississippi River. The passage of the Indian Removal32
Act of 1830 initiated the removal of the Native peoples from Georgia beginning with the33
Lower Muscogee Creek, thus perpetrating the removal of approximately 17,000 Creeks to34
the Oklahoma Territory. Georgia then included Cherokee territory in its Sixth Land Lottery,35
allocating Cherokee land to white settlers, although the Cherokee Nation had never ceded the36
land to the state; over the next six years, the Georgia Guard operated against the Cherokees,37
evicting them from their properties; by 1834, New Echota was becoming a ghost town, and38
council meetings were moved to Red Clay, Cherokee Nation, now in Tennessee; and39 23 LC 112 1255
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WHEREAS, as the General Assembly recalled in a 1997 resolution dedicating the Trail of
40
Tears Highway: "New Echota was converted from the capital of a nation to a holding pen for41
the human inhabitants of that nation as they were rounded up and corralled like cattle to42
embark on one of the most sordid chapters in our state’s history, the forced migration of the43
Cherokee people from their native Southeastern foothills and mountains to Oklahoma, an44
event that lives in infamy as the Trail of Tears"; and45
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land, which we46
are sworn to protect and uphold; and47
WHEREAS, it is abundantly fitting and proper for members of this body to recognize the48
importance of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band49
of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, including the historical50
tribes such as the Yuchi Tribe, Chickasaw Nation, and the Seminole Nation, Seminole Tribe51
of Florida Indians, and the Shawnee Tribe to the rich history of this state and our nation; and52
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body,53
in honor of Native American Honoring Day, commend the Muscogee (Creek) Nation,54
Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokee55
Indians, and the historical tribes, including the Yuchi Tribe, Chickasaw Nation, Seminole56
Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida Indians, the Shawnee Tribe, and all tribes.57
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body proclaim, "LET US GO58
DOWN TO THE RIVER, LET US BURY THE HATCHET AND PLANT THE TREE OF59
PEACE!"60 23 LC 112 1255
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
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to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the public and the62
press.63