I grew up in the small community of Briggs, Okla., east of Tahlequah near the Illinois River. The area is part of my family’s original allotments from the Dawes Allotment Act. My town has two of the three federally recognized Cherokees: my tribe, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Tahlequah also has Sequoyah High School and Northeastern State University, which both began as boarding schools for the area.