It’s hard to top the critical acclaim the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program has received in years past, but the goal is to do just that in 2010 with new specialty and event-related tours to compliment the four original, historically authentic cultural tours. “The Cultural Tourism program is positioned to take the four original awe-inspiring tours to another level that will far exceed all guest expectations,” said David Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Entertainment, which oversees the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Department. “The cultural tours received exceptional reviews and we took that feedback and experience and applied it to the development of new specialty and event-related tours for 2010.”


The Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program’s 2010 schedule includes:

• Cherokee History Tour includes stops at the Cherokee Heritage Center and Museum, which houses the Trail of Tears exhibit; an Ancient Village; and Adam’s Corner Rural Village. Guests will also visit the Murrell Home, the only antebellum plantation home left in Oklahoma. Visitors will enjoy Tahlequah, the capital city of the great Cherokee Nation, while touring historic properties including the National Capitol Building, Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum and Cherokee National Jail. Guests will then tour Northeastern State University’s Seminary Hall, which was once the Cherokee Female Seminary and the first institution of higher learning for women west of the Mississippi River and is a standing icon on the campus today.
• Will Rogers History Tour will celebrate the life and work of Oklahoma’s favorite son and world-famous Cherokee. Guests will have the chance to tour the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Okla., and Rogers’ birthplace, Dog Iron Ranch, in Oologah, Okla., to view the historically restored house where he grew up. Visitors will enjoy shopping in the historic downtowns of Oologah and Claremore as well as visit the J.M. Davis Arms museum.
• Civil War History Tour begins with a visit to historic Capitol Square in Tahlequah, Okla., where guests learn of Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie’s march through town, burning the Cherokee government buildings as he went. Guests will visit the Murrell Home, the only antebellum plantation home left in Oklahoma and one of the few in the area to survive the fires of the Civil War. Visitors will also see the room in the Murrell Home where Cherokee Nation Principal Chief John Ross signed allegiance to the Confederate States. Visitors will then tour Fort Gibson Historic Site to learn the history of the Fort during the War Between the States as it changed hands several times between the troops; and Honey Springs Battle Site, the location of the largest battle in Indian Territory, where the Union beat the Confederacy in the turning point of the Civil War in Indian Territory.
• Cherokee Old Settler Tour revisits a time before the Cherokee Removal, or the Trail of Tears, when a group of Cherokees willingly relocated to Arkansas beginning in 1808 and then to Indian Territory in 1828. This group was called the Western Cherokees, or Old Settlers, and guests will get a chance to view their historically important sites and learn about their history. Visitors will tour Sequoyah’s Cabin State Park, Tahlonteeskee Courthouse, Dwight Mission and the Fort Gibson Historic Site. Sequoyah’s Cabin State Park preserves on its original site the log cabin constructed in 1829 by Sequoyah, silversmith and Cherokee scholar. Dwight Mission was the site of an early printing press as well as a stopover point for many missionaries to the Cherokee. Fort Gibson Historic Site was established in 1824 to protect the western border of the United States and to maintain peace between the Cherokee and Osage tribes.

Specialty and event-related cultural tours will also be presented throughout the 2010 season to coincide with a variety of festivals and events. The event-related tours will feature a unique, cultural-filled itinerary that will showcase Cherokee-centric events such as the Cherokee National Holiday, which is held annually over Labor Day weekend. Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism will also offer a variety of specialty tours including a return of last year’s hugely successful History After Dark on October 21 - 23.

The 2010 tour pricing is tiered, subject to a tribal tax fee and includes:
For ticketing, complete tour details and additional information on the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program, call (877) 779-6977 or visit http://www.cherokeetourismok.com.

The Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Department is managed by Cherokee Nation Entertainment and was created in 2007 to promote the story of the Cherokee people. Efforts by the Cherokee Nation include developing guided community and educational tours, creating tourism partnerships and programs throughout northeastern Oklahoma, and launching a new Cherokee tourism-specific web site. For more information, please visit http://www.cherokeetourismok.com.

Cherokee Nation Entertainment is the gaming, hospitality, retail and tourism entity of the Cherokee Nation. Cherokee Nation Entertainment owns and operates the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, five Cherokee Casinos, Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs, three hotels, two golf courses and many other retail operations in northeastern Oklahoma. For more information, please visit http://www.cherokeestarrewards.com.
The Cherokee Nation is the sovereign operating government of the Cherokee people. It is a federally recognized tribe of more than 280,000 Cherokee citizens, with its capital located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Employing more than 6,500 people, Cherokee Nation’s annual economic impact in Oklahoma and surrounding areas is more than $1 billion dollars. To learn more, please visit http://www.cherokee.org.