Writing Cherokee Rock: Conflict, Identity, Research, and Memory

By James A. Humphrey, Author of the Cherokee Trilogy

Writing Cherokee Rock, the first novel in the Cherokee Trilogy, was not merely a literary endeavor—it was a journey through generational memory, historical trauma, cultural pride, and personal responsibility. As a Cherokee novelist, I felt called to bring to life a story that would honor the resilience of my ancestors, would respect my grandmother’s dignity and confront the layered conflicts that shaped their existence—and mine.

Conflict: The Core of the Story

Cherokee Rock opens in the crucible of colonial conflict—where the Cherokee allied with the French, British and the Spanish to resist colonial expansion. Those alliances, like many before and after, were born of strategic necessity but fractured under pressure, turning friends into foes. The novel dives deep into these shifting allegiances, not just on the battlefield but within the Cherokee Nation’s culture. These tensions—between tradition and adaptation, kinship and survival—fuel the drama of Cherokee Rock.

Conflict in the novel is not just political or military; it is spiritual and psychological. My characters wrestle with betrayal and hope, rage and forgiveness. Their struggles echo modern Native identity crises, making historical fiction a mirror for contemporary reflection.

Identity: Writing as a Cherokee

As a Cherokee citizen, I carry more than a pen—I carry stories that weren’t always meant to be written down. I was deeply aware of the ethical weight of representing Indigenous characters, particularly when writing about ceremonial life, kinship, and leadership. Cherokee Rock had to walk a fine line: revealing without exploiting and educating without preaching.

The novel became a vehicle for exploring my own identity. Where does a 21st-century Cherokee writer fit within a legacy of forced removal, assimilation, and resistance? How do we honor oral tradition while embracing written storytelling? These questions shaped every chapter of the book.

Research: Honoring Fact While Crafting Fiction

Writing Cherokee Rock required extensive and meticulous research—treaties, battles, village life, language, dress, geography. I dove into firsthand colonial accounts, Cherokee oral histories, and archival materials. I visited historic Cherokee sites and studied Cherokee writings, always grounding my work in cultural consultation.

Yet, historical fiction allows space for invention. I crafted characters who were not historical figures but who could have lived. Their lives were stitched into real events that shaped Cherokee history from the mid-1700s to the early 1800s. It’s this interweaving of fact and imagination that gives Cherokee Rock its narrative power.

Memory: The Personal Becomes Political

Much of Cherokee Rock is born not from books, but from memory—stories passed down, songs recorded, pain described. My grandmother’s quiet pride and her life of resilience. My immature sense of being part of something older than the United States itself.

Writing this novel was also an act of reclamation. In a world where Native stories are often told about us, not by us, Cherokee Rock stakes a claim for authenticity. It says: We Cherokee were here. We still are.

Why This Story Matters

Cherokee Rock is more than the beginning of a trilogy. It’s a testament to survival. It asks readers—Native and non-Native alike—to confront the uncomfortable truths of American history, to celebrate Indigenous strength, and to rethink what they believe they know about the Cherokee people.

In writing this book, I found a deeper sense of purpose as a storyteller. This novel is for my ancestors and grandchildren. For those who resisted extinction and removal. For those, like me, still finding their way back to identity and belonging.

Cherokee Rock, Cherokee Rose, and Cherokee Reel are available now from Tsalagi Books, Amazon, IngramSpark, and directly from the author’s website - www.cherokeetrilogy.com.

ᎣᏍᏓ ᎯᎪᎵᏰᎠ Join me on this literary journey—where history, memory, and fiction meld on Cherokee ground. Have a good read! www.cherokeetrilogy.com