BEAR ALLISON CHEROKEE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION On stage since 1950, "Unto These Hills" shares the story of why the Eastern Band of the Cherokee was allowed to stay in North Carolina while the most of the Cherokee tribe was forced to move to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears in 1838. The two-hour-long summer show also ranks among the oldest outdoor dramas in North Carolina. The Cherokee Historical Association operates both "Unto These Hills" and the 1750s-era Oconaluftee Indian Village, both on the Cherokee Qualla Boundary at the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. BEAR ALLISON "The village is full of re-enactors and crafters so you can take a tour and see all the Cherokee crafts and then interact with all of our re-enactors inside the village, just as if it were 1750," says John Tissue, the executive director of the Cherokee Historical Association. "We show what a pre-European-contact house would look like, with two cabins which would have been in the era of the 1750s. And we also have summer homes - storage houses - and ceremonial grounds in the center of the village and a council house that would have been like your capital building - your seat of government." Visitors can stop here and buy baskets made of river-cane or white oak plus pottery and belts made of yarn. BEAR ALLISON "We probably have about 30 people in the village at any given time," Tissue says. "Our main mission is to perpetuate the history and culture of the Cherokee Indians, specifically the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. This is a deeper, richer culture than what you see in a spaghetti western." 18 SOUTHERNHIGHLANDS.ORGhttp://www.SOUTHERNHIGHLANDS.ORG