Margaret Verble ‘found’ Cherokee America Rogers in a cemetery while visiting her grandfather’s grave. This “jaw-dropping” name sparked a journey into her own family history, the neglected stories of the Civil War in Indian Territory, and her newest novel, Cherokee America. Discover the remarkable woman behind this remarkable name, and the under-told and misunderstood history of Cherokee women in the nineteenth century. Margaret Verble, author of Maud’s Line and Cherokee America, and enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, introduces Olivia to her story.

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Guest Margaret Verble is an enrolled and voting citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a member of a large Cherokee family that has, through generations, made many contributions to the tribe’s history and survival. Her first novel, Maud’s Line, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her newest novel, Cherokee America, is set in 1875 in the Arkansas River bottoms of the old Cherokee Nation West.

Music for this episode provided by the Cherokee National Youth Choir, Marc Nelson, River of Suck and Andy Reiner, and Jeff Cuno. 

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