HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Native American culture will be celebrated during this year’s 39th Annual Trail of Tears Pow Wow in Hopkinsville. On Sept. 12-13, people of all ages will travel from across the country to publicly compete in traditional Native American dancing and music categories.
The community is invited to come out and watch the competitions at the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park all weekend, with the event generally attracting thousands of people. Attendees are able to shop at Native and local vendors, and enjoy traditional foods like fry bread, Indian tacos, buffalo burgers and more.
Competitors in traditional clothing representing various tribes will be competing for cash prizes totaling over $25,000, with age categories ranging from Tiny Tot to Golden Age. Dancers will be accompanied by drummers, who are also competing.
Admission to the event is $10 per adult and $5 for kids, ages six and under are free. Flute playing and storytelling will be from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Grand Entry will be at 1 p.m. on both days, with an additional entry at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
More about Hopkinsville’s Trail of Tears Commemorative Park
The Trail of Tears Commemorative Park website says the idea for hosting a Pow Wow in Hopkinsville was developed by the Trail of Tears Commission, Inc. as a way to commemorate in 1988 the 150th Anniversary of the Cherokee removal from ancestral homelands.
This forced removal affected Hopkinsville as it was on the Trail of Tears route and served as a major stopping point for the Cherokees in Kentucky during the fall and harsh winder of 1838-39. Kentucky had even older ties to the Cherokees as it was once a part of Cherokee ancestral lands.
The park in Hopkinsville is located on the encampment that was occupied by Cherokee exiles on the Trail of Tears. This location holds gravesites of Chief Whitepath and Fly Smith. A placard near the site explains that both Whitepath and Fly Smith had been seriously ill after their group traveled from the Nashville area in the 1830s. They arrived at the Hopkinsville encampment on an Army wagon and died soon after.
At the park visitors will find open green space with a bridge leading to a disk golf course, walking trail and picnic area. The Heritage Center is a small museum at the front of the park inside a restored log cabin.
Next to that are monuments where visitors can see the gravesites and learn about the history of the Trail of Tears. The other portions of the park hold a playground and outdoor arena and is next to the Hopkinsville Visitors Center.
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