John Marshall, the Supreme Court and the Trail of Tears

Preservation Virginia is partnering with the University of Oklahoma Center for the Study of American Indian Law and Policy and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture to host John Marshall, the Supreme Court and the Trail of Tears February 29, 2020. The symposium will feature five speakers discussing the impacts and legacy of the Marshall Trilogy cases.

What are the Marshall Trilogy cases?

The Marshall Trilogy is a set of three Supreme Court decisions that affirmed the legal and political standing of Indian nations in the United States. The cases resulted in what is known as the Trail of Tears, a series of forced relocations of Native American tribes from their homelands in the Southeastern United States to Oklahoma.

Speakers

• Lindsay G. Robertson, faculty director of the Center for the Study of American Indian Law and Policy, will be the keynote speaker. In addition, Robertson is the Chickasaw Nation Endowed Chair in Native American Law and a Sam K. Viersen Family Foundation Presidential Professor. He also serves as a Supreme Court Justice for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

• Dr. Edward L. Ayers, Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and president emeritus at the University of Richmond.

• Jack Baker, Cherokee Tribal Council representative and president of the National Trail of Tears Association

• Chief Emeritus Kenneth Adams, Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe

• Kevin C. Butterfield, Ph.D., executive director of the Washington Library at Mount Vernon

Admission (includes lunch)

• General Admission: $30

• Students: $15

• Preservation Virginia and Virginia Museum of History & Culture Members: $20