Cherokee Heritage Center

The Cherokee Heritage Center is a non-profit historical society and museum campus that seeks to preserve the historical and cultural artifacts, language, and traditional crafts of the Cherokee. The Heritage center also hosts the central genealogy database and genealogy research center for the Cherokee People. The Heritage Center is located on the site of the mid-19th century Cherokee Seminary building in Park Hill, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tahlequah, and was constructed near the old structure. It is a unit of the Cherokee National Historical Society and is sponsored by the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and other area tribes. The center was originally known as Tsa-La-Gi but is now known as the Cherokee Heritage Center.

The Cherokee Heritage center hosts an extensive collection of historic documents, art, cultural objects, and relics from the 1830s march along the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee National Museum exhibit hosts an extensive collection of ancient artifacts from the Cherokee culture from ancient to modern times.

The Ancient Village, located on the grounds of the Cherokee Heritage Center, is a complete reproduction of a mid-18th century Cherokee Township as it would have been encountered by European explorers or settlers. A guided tour of the village includes stops in a traditionally constructed, seven-sided council house and a brush arbor as well as demonstrations of traditional crafts, hunting techniques, religious and cultural practices. Visitors are invited to try their hand at using a blowgun and playing stickball during the tour.

Also on the grounds is the Adams Corner Rural Village which depicts a typical Cherokee settlement after removal to Indian Territory.

Retired Army Colonel Marty Hagerstrand is credited as the founder of the Cherokee Heritage Center in 1962. Col. Hagerstrand had begun research in Cherokee history and culture, first as a hobby in the late 1950s. Joining him in this endeavor was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation William Wayne Keeler. Chief Keeler had publicly stated that he supported preservation of Cherokee culture and heritage.

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