Sarah Stacke

A portrait of William Holland Thomas (1805-1893) hangs at the Museum of the Cherokee People. William was the white adopted son of Cherokee Principal Chief Yonaguska. In 1835, the Treaty of New Echota ceded all remaining Cherokee lands to the U.S. government and provided the legal basis for the Cherokee people’s forced removal to Oklahoma. After the treaty was signed, William purchased 50,000 acres for the Cherokee in his name. This land would later form the Qualla Boundary, home today to the EBCI. September 19, 2020.