National Park Service uses artist’s paintings

Three National Park Service interpretive panels featuring the artwork of Cherokee artist Dorothy Tidwell Sullivan were dedicated on Nov. 5 as part of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association’s fall meeting.

The paintings show the aftermath of the forced removal that occurred in 1838-39 when Cherokee people depended on supply depots to provide provisions while they waited for their first harvests and built new homes.

One painting titled “The End of the Journey” shows Cherokee people outside a depot receiving supplies, while the other painting titled “Home in the West” shows a Cherokee family around a campfire cooking.

The NPS and TOTA commissioned Sullivan’s artwork for the panels. She said she received background information from the two organizations for the paintings.

Sullivan said for the paintings she used the likenesses of local Cherokee people. She added that the paintings were given to the Cherokee Heritage Center on permanent loan by the NPS per her request.

“I just thought it would be a nice thing to be able to give them to the museum,” she said.
Sullivan, of Oklahoma City, said she painted the pieces in honor of her Tidwell family, specifically her great-grandmother Versonay Marie Tidwell, grandmother Cellie Lizziebeth Tidwell and her father Harold Tidwell, who lived northwest of Stilwell on allotment land.

She said she thought of her late father while creating the paintings. A Cherokee Nation citizen, she said he was proud of his heritage and would take her and her sister to visit her grandmother’s home site.

The Tidwell family is descended from Young Deer or Indian John Tidwell, who arrived in Indian Territory from Georgia during the forced removal, she said.

In honor of her Tidwell family, Sullivan donated a framed print on canvas of “Home in the West” to the Stilwell Depot Museum.

“I just wanted it go there because that’s where they lived,” she said. “It was my gift to the museum because I think so much of it.”

Sullivan said “Home in the West” was also inspired by the Webber family, an Old Settler family who lived where the Stilwell cemetery is now located. Old Settlers were Cherokees who arrived in the territory in the early 1800s.

The Webbers established a plantation where the cemetery is today, Sullivan said. A supply depot for Cherokee people was set up at the Webber home site. 

“It was one of the main ones. More (removal) detachments went to it than the others,” she said.
The NPS created three interpretive markers from Sullivan’s paintings. A marker using the “Home in the West” artwork sits outside the depot museum, while two markers using the “End of the Journey” and “Home in the West” artworks are at the Stilwell cemetery. The markers also provide background on the Trail of Tears and supply depots.

“What I try to do with my paintings is the more you look…the more you learn,” Sullivan said. “I used to be a teacher, so it comes out. I can’t help it.”

Sullivan said she’s been creating Cherokee-themed paintings for more than 20 years, using her love of history and father’s stories. She said she didn’t grow up immersed in the Cherokee culture but researched along the way to add authenticity to her paintings.

The NPS and the TOTA have partnered to promote preservation and awareness of the Trail of Tears. Each state where removal detachments originated, and those through which they traveled, have formed state chapters marking and dedicating trail sites.

The Oklahoma project locates and marks the graves of those who survived the trail. The newest project dedicates the ration depots and places historical marker signs at the sites.