Cherokee Trail of Tears

Wolf Edmonds was inspired by the story of the Cherokee people who in 1838-39 were forcibly removed from their lands by the Federal government, resulting in the deaths of more than 4,000 Cherokee. Figures represented are Chief Sequoyah, a woman and child epitomizing the persistence required to survive, a male figure representing the despair of the journey, and a phoenix at the top to symbolize hope for the future. This quilt was one of 100 selected for the book The Twentieth Century’s Best American Quilts (1999).