Osiyo. I am Stephen Carr Hampton, an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation. My father, Albert Hampton, is from Grove, Oklahoma. He grew up attending the Green Corn Dances, proud of his elders, some of whom held prominent positions in the Cherokee community (such as John Calvin Martin Jr., member of the 1827 Cherokee Constitutional Convention and first Chief Justice and Treasure of Cherokee Nation pre-removal; Richard Fox Taylor, member of the Cherokee National Committee pre-removal and signer of the 1839 Cherokee Constitution post-removal; and Jefferson Thompson Parks, Chief Justice of Cherokee Nation post-removal).
At least twenty of my relatives were on the Trail of Tears. I am also a direct descendant of Nancy Ward. Unlike her, I’m no battlefield tactician, just a writer. My dad left the rez when he was 18. I’m the generation that came after — in California. I have never lived on the Cherokee reservation so I cannot speak from that perspective. Full disclosure– I’m descended from Old Settlers, Trail of Tears survivors, and Cherokees who stayed in the East, as well as English, Irish, and Scottish traders (such as Ludovic Grant and, by marriage, John “Bushyhead” Stuart), Loyalists and Revolutionaries, Confederates and Unionists. I’m also a direct descendent of the Choctaw Nails.
My father was part of the diaspora from Oklahoma to California (see the map showing where Cherokees are today). That’s where he met my mother, a second generation Slovak from Ohio. I came along after that, in the yellow area in southern California. I’ve since moved to northern California and more recently to Washington, where there are also Cherokee communities.
I formerly worked as a tribal liaison (among other roles) for California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response. We dealt with oil spills and other pollution events. All opinions expressed here are purely my own. All information referred to here is publicly available.
This blog is dedicated to un-erasing Native American history and shining a light on contemporary issues. I aim especially to provide historical context and parallels to current events. Wado.
I can be contacted via my personal website.
Memories of the People 
Dear Stephen
Your blog and commentary on this pipeline project, and the impact to the Sioux tribe is very interesting. My publication (Environment Analyst) is seeking to understand more about the key environmental issues surrounding projects in the US. While we are based in the UK we are writing more and more about the US, particularly because the consultancies who subscribe to us are international and many have US operations. The ascendancy of Donald Trump has led for a need for information on the impacts of his EOs and how it will shape environmental protection in the states.
If you would agree I would like to undertake a telephone interview with you to discuss this project and the wider requirements for environmental assessments in the US. I am interested to know what the differences between an EA are and an EIS – the underlying legal need for both? If you are keen please send me an email ross@environment-analyst.com to discuss more.
Ross
Thank you for your blog. I hope you continue what you are doing like what you said “provide historical context and parallels to current events”.
Quit crying just because a bigger tribed kicked your ass. You savages killed people and stole their land, too.
Thanks for your much needed website. And I apologize for the August 30 person who made that insensitive comment. So much evil has been done to the native american. 372 treaties with the United States government broken by the US government. The last land area – Oklahoma was supposed to be Indian land. But even that was taken from native americans.
Cherokee Trail of Tears, Bosque Redondo, Sand Creek, and Washita show who the “real savages” were. The land is cursed by our actions against native americans unless we repent.
Kristin, Thank you for your support. Yes, the “semi-barbarous” pioneers described by Thomas Jefferson are today’s “deplorables”, but together we can overcome.