After doing a few articles about the local Cherokee from my area of East Tennessee, several different people shared memories with me. They shared their recollections of seeing the Cherokee drama, “Unto These Hills,” in Cherokee, N.C. It took me back to a time when I also saw this outdoor production and was touched by its message. I saw it in the late 1970s, but the outdoor theater production goes back much further. The play’s message is historically significant, and the show is also.
“Unto These Hills” is the third longest-running outdoor drama in the United States. It was first done on June 1, 1950. (Except for closing for Covid during the 2020 season, it has operated seasonally continuously.) The Cherokee, in the late 1940s, were looking for ways to increase tourist trade and also preserve their culture. With that in mind, they hired a graduate student from North Carolina University, Kermit Hunter, to write the play depicting their heritage. Kermit Hunter (whose name later appeared in an outdoor theater in Gatlinburg, Tennessee) became highly acclaimed for this outstanding piece of historical drama.
“Unto These Hills” is held in the outdoor theater owned by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Cherokee Historical Association, which also operates Oconaluftee. Both of these are dedicated to preserving true Cherokee history. The Mountainside Theatre, where “Unto These Hills” is performed, was built to host the production and has been the site of the drama since its opening in 1950.
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The play has been through several revisions and rewrites by various playwriters who sought to update the story. The current drama being produced is the original one written by Kermit Hunter with the addition of the historical updates.
The play’s setting is the backdrop of the outdoor theater, the beautiful Cherokee land, a place referred to by the Cherokee as the “place of the blue smoke.” The drama begins with Hernando De Soto, who encountered the Cherokee in 1540, and a premonition of the following three hundred years of the Cherokee interaction with the whites. It continues to document the overtaking of the Cherokee land, broken promises, and the invasive behavior of the white settlers. It demonstrates the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, where Cherokee leader, Yonaguska and other Cherokee (including Sequoyah and John Ross, who was later Chief) aligned with Andrew Jackson to defeat the Creeks and open up land west of the Mississippi for more white settlers. Despite the efforts of the Cherokee to support and live with the whites, Andrew Jackson removed them from their homeland in what became known as the Trail of Tears.
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As the play continues, one man staunchly protests the removal. A strong leader of the anti-white encroachment, Tsali, who as a young man joined with Cherokee War Chief Dragging Canoe and later Tecumseh (a Shawnee) to fight the white settlers, was opposed to leaving his homeland in North Carolina. As a result, Tsali and his family were surprised by white soldiers. Their baby was accidentally killed. Emotions escalated; a white soldier was killed, and several others were injured. Tsali and a small band hid. Tsali, it is said, was eventually captured and executed with the understanding that the other Cherokee were allowed to stay if they gave up their tribal citizenship and assimilated into the state and federal cultures.
Principal Chief Yonaguska was one of those who were able to escape removal. It is estimated that approximately 800 Cherokee managed to stay. These were the ancestors of what now exists as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI). The Eastern Band of Cherokee is now estimated to be over 16,000 and is recognized by the federal government and seeks to preserve its culture and heritage. “Unto These Hills” has been effective at doing so. As the play details, it is a haunting history, one that will give all who watch its drama of tragedy and triumph pause to think about our nation’s history.
It is estimated that as many as 100,000 people annually view the play. Considering its historical running length since 1950, it has impacted many who have seen it. The Cherokee Historical group estimates that over six million people have seen the play. The play ends positively for the Cherokee people, its culture, language, and values reemerging to this day. It is likely that “Unto These Hills” has positively impacted how the people of our country now view the Cherokee and their stories.
If you haven’t seen “Unto These Hills”, I highly recommend that you do. It will have an influence on your thoughts for years to come.
For more information about “Unto These Hills”, Oconaluftee Indian Village open times and production dates and times of the play, go to www.cherokeehistorical.org. The theater is currently doing many other productions seasonally, including “Dracula”, “The Trail of Tears”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and a tour of “The Gathering”, the story of the Trail of Tears thru the eyes of today’s young people.
