CHEROKEE ROCK
Book One
1779-1838
A Cherokee boy's journey through disease, violence, cultural change and resistance.
CHEROKEE ROSE
Book Two
1838 and Removal
A Cherokee woman's struggle for family, identity and justice during Removal.
CHEROKEE REEL
Book Three Civil War and Reconstruction
Cherokee, Freedmen and mixed-heritage lives collide with slavery, war and political division.
One family. three novels.
one Century of cherokee history.
Follow the Waters family through colonial expansion, removal, civil war and reconstruction.
"why these Books"
A cherokee story told from within
Written by Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma citizen James A. Humphrey and inspired by documented family records and Dawes Roll ancestry, the trilogy combines historical research with fiction to explore Cherokee history through the Waters family.
12 Years of research + Documented family history
+ cherokee perspective + history blended fiction
what reviewers are saying
CHEROKEE ROCK By James A. Humphrey - Kirkus Review - Verdict Get It
The narrative moves briskly while establishing the tinderbox that is Enoli’s environment. A studied look at the deadly challenges facing Indigenous people in 18th-century America.
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CHEROKEE ROSE By James A. Humphrey - Kirkus Review - Verdict Get It
This second novel in Humphrey’s historical series tells a story of the travails of a part-Cherokee family in the 19th century as they endure the Trail of Tears. An unflinching and often engaging look at a shameful time in American history.
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CHEROKEE REEL By James A. Humphrey - Kirkus Review - Verdict Get It
Humphrey takes a lively look at the complexities of indigenous participation in the Civil War. A fast-paced portrayal of a lesser-known corner of U.S. Civil War history and its aftermath.
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explore the history behind the stories
Free Cherokee history videos produced by Cherokee 411, the Cherokee's leading online independent news source covering all three tribes.
This video collection contains three 15+ minute videos plus a 45-minute trilogy presentation and a downloadable teacher/librarian guide.
Free short Cherokee history videos, "Minutes Seldom Taught In School," inspired by the Cherokee history in The Cherokee Trilogy
Interested in experiencing his history through the lives of one Cherokee family?
The story behind
the stories
James A. Humphrey's Cherokee Trilogy was inspired by his grandmother, Ella Waters, a Dawes Roll registrant.
