Collier Library Mural Project

Tears & Triumphs: Honoring North Alabama’s First Peoples

By: Avery Calvert

This past fall semester, I took Introduction to Public History. For our final project, we worked on stage one of re-doing the mural in Collier Library. The mural in the library has had many different themes like the Women of UNA and Dr. Gunn, but this time the theme is Native American history. Native history is very important to the Shoals area and to UNA; native peoples were the first ones here and their legacy has persisted to this day; therefore, we wanted to highlight their history and persistence.

For this project, I was part of the research team. My research focused solely on Chickasaw history. The initial mural plans consist of three sections running from right to left. The first section is cultural origins, the second section is removal, and the third section is perseverance. For the first section, I researched cultural origins. I contacted a Research Associate of the Chickasaw Nation to learn which resources are factual. With Native American history, it is difficult to find resources that show their perspective or that are from tribal members. Our research team dedicated ourselves to finding resources that stemmed from the tribes themselves. 

In the next section, I focused on researching how the Chickasaws were removed from their homeland. Many people mistakenly believe that removal happened all at once or that it wiped all of the Native Americans out of the South, but this is not true. The Chickasaw people were unique in their removal because they financed it. The Chickasaw Nation sold their homeland and used that money for their removal. This does not mean that their removal did not come without difficulty. They were still subject to disease, starvation, and ridicule, but all of these tragedies were lessened because of their choice to finance their removal. 

The final section discussed the cultural heritage they maintained and shared. The Oka Kapassa Festival takes place annually in Tuscumbia, Alabama to honor the tribes that their historic homeland is here. As I mentioned before, our project centers around the preservation of Native culture and their connection to the Shoals area. As I researched on the Chickasaw Nation website, I discovered that they have established language clubs and classes as well as an annual festival. Language revitalization is very important because only a few tribal members are fluent in the Chickasaw language. 

Learning about the Chickasaw’s origins and legacy in our area was a very eye-opening experience. I look forward to seeing what the next cohort will contribute to this mural!

Cover photo: University Photographer. Collier Library. July 13, 2018. Photography. 4862X3388 (pixels). University of North Alabama.