When the Cherokee Nation established the first Native American newspaper at their capital in Georgia nearly 200 years ago, they named the publication the Cherokee Phoenix. The earliest editions, published in 1828, were printed in both Cherokee and English. The front page included the image of a phoenix bird, which symbolizes immortality in many cultures.
That same image helped inspire the design for a new mural at the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park in Hopkinsville.
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Designed by Hopkinsville artist Jennifer Bowman, the mural took shape when 12 young people enrolled in a weeklong camp offered by the Pennyroyal Arts Council.
The campers unveiled the mural Friday morning. Bowman complimented the group for their work ethic and creativity.
“They just took to it so well,” she told several dozen community members and public officials who attended the unveiling.
The wingspan of the phoenix stretches across the 38-foot-wide exterior wall of a building on the park grounds. It will be visible to thousands of people who visit the park every year, including those who come from across the country to compete in the annual powwow in September.
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Brooke Jung, executive director of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Convention and Visitors Bureau, noted the park is also a stop on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, and attracts “guests from all over the world.”
Kristina Scott, the docent at the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, imagined the number of people who will take photos of the mural and post them on social media.
“This painting is going to travel all over the world,” she said.
The campers who painted the mural are Connar Jones, Skylar Cantrell, Sigrid Fantini, Meredith Lampert, Ruby Laster, Alexa Love, Kadence McClain, Elliot Moorefield, Cheyenne Peterson, Sahara Peterson, Nona Pruitt and Sophia Wilson.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
