AN UNEASY PEACE

26" x 30"edition of one hundred

The treaty of Hopewell, which was signed on Nov. 28, 1785, was the first treaty between the Americans and the Cherokee. The treaty was signed by Old Corn Tassle and boycotted by Dragging Canoe, this is depicted by the opposing face wearing the markings of the Peregrine Falcon, the bird of war. Dragging Canoe and the Chickamaugas continued to raid and terrorize the Americans with arms supplied by the Spanish Traders in Florida.

After the death of Dragging Canoe in 1792 leadership fell to Doublehead who was even more aggressive than Dragging Canoe had been. Under Doublehead, Chief Bowl ambushed an American party on the Tennessee River near muscle Shoals in 1794, ostracized by the Cherokee and hated by the Americans, he and his followers crossed the Mississippi and settled along the St. Francis River in what is now Arkansas.

The Bowl and the Chickamaugas followed Sam Houston to Texas hoping for an ally. After Texas gained its independence the Texas legislature voted to expel all Indians from Texas. The two Chickamauga villages were raided, and The Bowl was killed. The remnants of the Chickamaugas rejoined the Cherokee who were rebuilding the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory after the forced removal known now as the Trail Of Tears, completing the circle.