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Tahlequah, OK - The public is invited to attend a reception for the opening of the award-winning touring exhibition at the Cherokee Heritage Center on Saturday, February 1 from 2 to 4 p.m.

On loan from the Atlanta History Center, the traveling component of the award-winning Native Lands: Indians and Georgia exhibition, explores 500 years of Native American history in Georgia through images, texts, narratives, audio tapes and videos. Based on one of the most popular exhibitions created by the Atlanta History Center, the traveling exhibit will open in several tribal nations in the coming months, beginning in the capitols of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina.

Native Lands: Indians and Georgia celebrates the state's original inhabitants beginning with the Mississippian peoples and continuing with their descendants, the Creeks and the Cherokees, both of whom were eventually expelled from the Southeast in what was called the Trail of Tears.

The exhibition includes audio tapes of Native Americans reading historic accounts, as well as video tapes of contemporary Indians discussing important issues of significance to their communities. The creation of Native Lands originally stemmed from the Atlanta History Center's desire to tell the story of "first nation" inhabitants in a permanent gallery at the center. Long before the first European settlers came to what is now called Georgia, the Mississippian Indians developed complex societies on these lands-complete with art, music ceremony agriculture, architecture and trade industries. Their descendants, the Creeks and Cherokees, left additional landmarks and cultural legacies prior to their 1830s removal from the state on the Trail of Tears. Unlike most accounts, which stop with the Trail of Tears, the exhibition explores Indians' recent history and their continuing connections to Georgia through the voices and artistry of contemporary Creeks and Cherokees.

Highlights of the exhibit include a 1700s Creek town square replica and an 1800s Cherokee family hearth scene showing the creative blending of native and European cultures.

Dr. Andy Ambrose, interim executive director of the Atlanta History Center, believes that Native Lands is one of the most comprehensive exhibitions the Atlanta History Center has created in recent years. "Native Lands presents an intimate portrait of the Native American community and its heritage," Dr. Ambrose says. "The exhibition is a testament to the lasting impact of the original inhabitants of the Southeast, told through their experiences and their resilience."

Native Lands: Indians and Georgia has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities, expanding America's understanding, for more than thirty years, of who we were, who we are, and who we will be, with additional support from The Noble Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The original exhibition has been the recipient of several awards, including an Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History and the Curators' Award from the Southeastern Museums Conference.

The Native Lands: Indians and Georgia Exhibition will be presented through April 21 at the Cherokee Heritage Center. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call 918-456-6007 and visit the CHC website.