Native Americans in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) —  As we continue commemorating Native American Heritage Month, last week we brought you the story of Former Fayette County Commonwealth Attorney, Lou Anna Red Corn, and her ties to the Osage Nation, depicted in the Martin Scorcese movie ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Robert Deniro.

This week, we dig a little deeper into the history of Native Americans in Kentucky.

“There’s this, there’s huge myth that no Indian people lived in Kentucky, they only hunted here that is complete hogwash, in every county in the state, 120 counties, every one of them have sites where American Indian people were,” says Tressa Brown, Historic Preservation Coordinator for the Kentucky Heritage Council.

Native American Heritage Month is commemorated during November, many in the commonwealth are looking to clear up any misconceptions regarding Kentucky and its ties to the American Indian People.

“American Indians have been in Kentucky for 12,000 years from the beginning to today. There are 90,000 people in Kentucky who identify as American Indian today,” says Brown.

Brown also adding, “that whole myth is based on the fact that those early entrepreneurs, American and, British entrepreneurs that, that purchased this land here illegally, I may add, wanted people to come to settle here, they wanted to sell the land so that other people could come here and settle,” she says on the myth that no Native Americans lived in Kentucky.

Although Kentucky does not have federally recognized tribes, “the Shawnee homeland is most of Kentucky and up into Ohio, the Cherokee came in through, from the south, up through the Appalachian region and then moved over into all of central Kentucky and central south, central Kentucky. Then the Chickasaw were there way out in the western Kentucky, the Yuchi were here, the Tutelo here, the Saponi were here,” she says.

“A lot of people in Kentucky who had native ancestry decided not to acknowledge, not to recognize it, not to recognize it because again, it was socially and economically disadvantageous to be American Indian,” added Brown.

The Kentucky Native American Commission was established in 1996, to recognize and promote Native American contributions and influence Kentucky’s history and culture.

“This is American Indian Heritage Month. I, I really would, recommend folks learn more about the native culture in your area. Wherever you are. Not just what was here but who is here now, because we have nearly 200 different tribes represented in the state,” also said Brown.

For more information on the Kentucky Heritage Council, click here.