Color My Outdoors was inspired by the beautiful lands of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
These lands were originally inhabited by the people of the Cherokee Nation. 

 

In 1838 the desire for more land and Georgia gold gave the government an excuse to forcefully remove Cherokee in the Southeast. More than 16,000 native people were marched on what would historically become known as the Trail of Tears and relocated to Oklahoma. Between 25 and 50 percent of the Cherokee tribe died on the Trail of Tears.

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Some members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians living in modern day Western North Carolin are descendants of Trail of Tears survivors, those who made it to Oklahoma and then walked back home. Others are descended from Cherokee who managed to keep land they owned and did not march West. Under the 1819 treaty some Cherokee had taken land and were allowed to remain. Others hid in the mountains and refused to be relocated. In 1850 the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians numbered approximately 1,000. Presently, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a sovereign nation with over 14,000 members.