Cherokee by Blood (Red Sky with Aphid Hemlocks)

Cherokee by Blood (Red Sky with Aphid Hemlocks) is from a body of work that responds to and incorporates the text of “Cherokee by Blood,” a report commissioned by the U.S. Court of Claims to determine eligibility to payments issued under U.S. treaties with the Eastern Band of Cherokee dating to 1835-36 and 1845. The investigation into eligibility began in 1906 and concluded in 1910 and consisted of over one hundred thousand interviews with people applying to the U.S. Court of Claims in an effort to retain their identity and tribal enrollment within the Cherokee Nation. About one third of these were denied their claim and thus their heritage. While featuring both a personal and cultural concern, the work also speaks to more universal topics of exile and the desire to belong.