Sharon Benoit has a wealth of knowledge about her Cherokee ancestors, but there is a lot she still wants to know.
On a hot day last July, Benoit went to Steelville, Missouri, to learn about one of her ancestors: a young girl who arrived as an orphan in Oklahoma via the Cherokee Trail of Tears route that crossed the Ozarks.
Through archaeological research, Benoit learned that the girl’s parents stayed — and likely died — at an encampment in Crawford County.
The child’s parents are among an estimated 6,000 Cherokee men, women and children who perished during their forcible removal, by the U.S. government, from their homes in the east to what is now Oklahoma.
“I’m trying to preserve the Trail of Tears. I want people to know what our ancestors came through, what they survived through and that we're still here,” said Benoit, a full-blooded member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.
A former district representative for her band and a nurse by trade, Benoit worked with archaeologist Erin Whitson to identify and verify Cherokee encampment sites in Steelville.
It’s a challenging task because many Cherokee groups only stayed at these sites for a day. But marking the camp sites honors those who survived, explained Whitson, who now works with the Missouri Department of Transportation.
“Lives were lost, families were broken, and those moments have long, profound effects that still haunt today,” Whitson said.
Whitson’s research is featured in a new episode of the film series “My Ozarks.” The documentary short tells the story of Whitson’s balancing act as she tries to champion her hometown and challenge it to reconcile with its past, said the film’s director, Gabe Sheets.
“The archaeological project, it's about the Cherokee being dispossessed of their own land, of their own home,” Sheets said. “That storyline of home parallels with Erin's relationship with her hometown, which is struggling and might not understand why somebody is putting all these resources into historical research when in the present, it has its own issues.”
Missouri has the most miles of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, and Whitson’s hometown is on its path. Through her research and preservation efforts from groups like the Steelville Trail of Tears Remembrance Committee, Whitson hopes the sites will be formally recognized and protected.
“They're not places that will just shift to the side if a road comes through or a cell tower is placed there,” Whitson said.
For Cherokee elder Benoit, preserving the places her ancestors crossed simultaneously holds past, present and future significance.
“I would like to pass this information on to my descendants … for my children and my grandchildren to understand that someone suffered, someone really came through some hardship for them to be here,” Benoit said.
Related Events
“My Ozarks” screening at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase
When: 5 p.m. July 27
Where: Hi-Pointe Theater, 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117
To hear more from Cherokee elder Sharon Benoit and archaeologist Erin Whitson about the Trail of Tears' history in the Ozarks, listen to the full St. Louis on the Air conversation on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube, or click the play button below.
St. Louis on the Air welcomed Emmett Williams, Cinema St. Louis director of festival curation and education, who talked about the 24th annual Filmmakers Showcase, which will screen “My Ozarks.” Zion Thomas, the young St. Louis actor who stars in the narrative short, “Vision,” also joined to share what drew him to the film that depicts parts of the city he knows well.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
