''Unto These Hills'' is an outdoor historical drama during summers at the 2,800-seat Mountainside Theatre in

Cherokee, North Carolina Cherokee ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, translit=Tsalagi) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Swain and Jackson counties in Western North Carolina, United States, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. Cherokee is located in the Oconaluftee River V ...

. It is the third oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States, after '' The Lost Colony'' in Manteo in eastern North Carolina and ''

The Ramona Pageant ''The Ramona Outdoor Play'', formerly known as (and still commonly called) ''The Ramona Pageant'', is an outdoor play staged annually in Hemet, California since 1923. It is based on the 1884 novel '' Ramona'' by Helen Hunt Jackson. History a ...

'' in Southern California. The first version of the play was written by Kermit Hunter and opened on July 1, 1950, to wide acclaim. The play recounts the history of the Cherokee of the Eastern region up to their removal by United States forces in 1838 via the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, Mus ...

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign i ...

, now

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. The drama includes notable Cherokee historic figures, including

Sequoyah Sequoyah (Cherokee: ᏍᏏᏉᏯ, ''Ssiquoya'', or ᏎᏉᏯ, ''Se-quo-ya''; 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native American polymath of the Cherokee Nation. In 1821, he completed his independent crea ...

, Junaluska, Chief

Yonaguska Yonaguska, (1759–1839), who was known as Drowning Bear (the English meaning of his name), was a leader among the Cherokee of the Lower Towns of North Carolina. During the Indian Removal of the late 1830s, he was the only chief who remained in ...

a.k.a. Drowning Bear, and

William Holland Thomas William Holland Thomas (February 5, 1805 – May 10, 1893) was an American merchant and soldier. He was the son of Temperance Thomas (née Colvard) and Richard Thomas, who died before he was born. He was raised by his mother on Raccoon Cr ...

(the adopted son of Drowning Bear and the only white chief of the Cherokee), Selu the Corn Mother, and Kanati the Great Hunter.

History

The Western North Carolina Associated Communities (WNCAC) in western North Carolina wanted to develop tourism and promote economic growth in the western part of the state. Inspired by the success of Paul Green's historic outdoor drama, or political pageant, '' The Lost Colony'', the WNCAC decided to make another political pageant about the

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, ''Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi'') is a federally recognized Indian Tribe based in Western North Carolina in the United States. They are descended from the smal ...

(EBCI) in Cherokee, North Carolina. When Paul Green was unavailable to write a second play, they commissioned UNC graduate student Kermit Hunter to write the new outdoor drama. With the help of Joe Jennings, director Samuel Selden chose the EBCI's homeland of Cherokee, North Carolina, as the backdrop for the drama. The Mountainside Theatre was built for this outdoor drama. The play was first produced on July 1, 1950. It was immediately successful with more than 100,000 audience members in its first year of production. The play has run for more than 60 years at the Mountainside Theatre, which is owned and operated by the Cherokee Historical Association. It is staged Monday through Saturday evenings. Famous alumni of ''Unto These Hills'' include

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, best known for his portrayal of

Lex Luthor Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: April ...

on ''

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'';

Adam Richman Adam Montgomery Richman is an American actor and television host. He has hosted various dining and eating-challenge programs on the Travel Channel and History Channel. Early life and education Richman, an only child, was born into a Jewish f ...

, host of

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's '' Man v. Food''; Polly Holliday, of the 1970s sitcom ''

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

''; and actor and former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Ben L. Jones Benjamin Lewis Jones (born August 30, 1941) is an American actor, politician, playwright, and essayist, best known for his role as Cooter Davenport in ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. Jones also served for four years in the United States House of Rep ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to th ...

, a regular on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

's ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

''. In 2006, the EBCI Tribal Government hired playwright

Hanay Geiogamah Hanay Geiogamah (born 1945) is a playwright, television and movie producer, and artistic director. He is currently a Professor in the School of Theater, Film, and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also served as the direc ...

(

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

) to revise the script, the first complete rewrite since the play was instituted. Geiogamah is a writer/director/producer of Native American dramas, as well as the founder of the American Indian Dance Theatre and Professor in the Department of Theater at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

. Geiogamah was chosen to address a number of issues with the previous script, including historical inaccuracies. He was also encouraged to increase Cherokee tribal participation in the cast. Geiogamah accepted this challenge, wrote a new script, and produced a show. But many tribal members were reportedly not fond of the new play version, saying that it removed the Cherokee style of story telling and their history in this area. Geiogamah had added more interpretive dance to help convey the story. In addition, many tribal members missed having the story of

Tsali Tsali ( chr, ᏣᎵ), originally of Coosawattee Town (''Kusawatiyi''), was a noted leader of the Cherokee during two different periods of the history of the tribe. As a young man, he followed the Chickamauga Cherokee war chief, Dragging Canoe, from ...

included in the play. He is believed to have sacrificed his life in battle to gain approval for the remainder of his Cherokee people to stay in their homeland of North Carolina, at a time of conflict with European Americans. In 2007, the tribe hired Pat Allee and Ben Hurst to write a new script. In 2008, additional changes were made by Linda West. Fewer than 50,000 people saw the performance in summer 2009, about half the number from years ago. John Tissue, director of the Cherokee Historical Association, suggests economic problems as the reason for the reduced crowds. The 2010 production is credited to Linda Squirrel. Eddie Swimmer, a Cherokee, serves as director of the drama. As of 2010, more than six million people have seen the production. In 2015, it was announced that the original Kermit Hunter screenplay from 1950 would be brought out of retirement. Several changes were made to make the original script more historically accurate. Many attendees have been well pleased to see the original version of the show. In 2020, the production announced that the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It was the first time the drama did not have a production season. The drama returned to their normal operating schedule in May 2021.

Sequel

The

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. I ...

hired Hunter to write a sequel, ''The Trail of Tears'', covering the period during and after the removal to Indian Territory in what became the state of Oklahoma. That drama was performed at a large outdoor amphitheater at the Cherokee Heritage Center (then known as Tsa-La-Gi), from 1969 through 2005.

References

External links

''Unto These Hills''
at visitcherokeenc.com {{Cherokee 1950 plays American plays Appalachia in fiction Cherokee culture Plays based on actual events Southern United States in fiction Native Americans in popular culture North Carolina in fiction Plays set in the United States Trail of Tears Works about Native Americans

History

Sequel

See also

References

External links