The Cherokee National Capitol (Cherokee: ), now the Cherokee National History Museum, is a historic tribal government building in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

. Completed in 1869, it served as the capitol building of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

from 1869 to 1907, when Oklahoma became a state. It now serves as the site of the tribal supreme court and judicial branch. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1961 for its role in the Nation's history.

History

The Cherokee Nation first established a republican form of government in 1820, while still occupying their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States. The tribe was one of several forcibly relocated to what is now Oklahoma during the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

of the 1830s. The Nation reestablished its government quickly, in 1838, following the removal, with Tahlequah as its capital. In addition to establishing its courts and council, the Nation built seminaries for both male and female students, as education was highly valued. Early government meetings of the Nation were held out in the open, with later meetings in log structures. A courthouse was built in the 1840s, but most of the city's public buildings were destroyed during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. This building was constructed from 1867-1869, after peace had been restored to the region. The building's style, a late interpretation of the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

, is unusual for Oklahoma. The architect was C. W. Goodlander. Originally it housed the nation's court as well as other offices, and was used for tribal council meetings. It served the tribal government until 1907, when the state of Oklahoma was established and the tribal government was abolished by an act of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. The capitol was designated a

in 1961. The building currently houses the judicial branch of the Cherokee Nation government. In 2013, the nation began a restoration project to preserve the building's original appearance, including roof repairs with historical-era shingles, new decking, new doors and windows, and adding a cupola to the roof. The project also includes adding a new back porch.PRWeb. "Cherokee Nation Launches Restoration of Historic Capitol Building." January 7, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.

Description

The Cherokee Nation Courthouse stands in the center of Courthouse Square, bounded by East Delaware Street, South Water Avenue, East Keetoowah Street, and South Muskogee Avenue. It is a two-story masonry building with neoclassical Italianate style, built out of red brick and white-painted wooden trim. It is five bays wide and seven deep, with slightly projecting sections consisting of the center three bays on each side. Each of these is topped by a pedimented gable with a dentillated cornice. The wall bays are articulated by piers, and have segmented-arch windows on the ground floor and rounded-arch windows on the second. There are entrances on the east and west ends, the main entrance on the west side sheltered by a 20th-century brick vestibule.

References

External links

Cherokee Tribal Court web site

Cherokee National Capitol Building, 101-29 South Muskogee Avenue, Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK
at the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

(HABS) {{Cherokee National Historic Landmarks in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Tahlequah, Oklahoma Legislative buildings Cherokee Nation (1794–1907) buildings and structures Native American history of Oklahoma Neoclassical architecture in Oklahoma Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Historic American Buildings Survey in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Cherokee County, Oklahoma Government buildings completed in 1869 1869 establishments in Indian Territory Cherokee Nation buildings and structures

History

Description

See also

References

External links