Tony is passionate about preserving his heritage especially the uses of native plants for food, medicine, weapons, tools, and ceremonial. His personal garden contains many of the plants used by the Cherokee prior to the “Trail of Tears”. Each week he will be highlighting a significant plant and its relationship to our culture and history.
Tony is an active citizen of the Cherokee Nation, being born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He graduated from Northeastern State University, originally a Cherokee University located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He is also active in the following organizations: Georgia Trail of Tears Association, Georgia Native Plant Society, and Cobb County Master Gardeners. He is a frequent speaker at local historical, civic, and garden clubs. He has also spoken at the National Cherokee Ethnobotany Conference and the National Park Service. In 2013 Tony received The Conservation Award presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
My Cherokee Garden 
hi, my name is patricia george. I would so appreciate some advise on medicinal uses. I have diabetes & gout. many other health problems but these two are my main concern to start with. I live in albany, oregon. I am Cherokee.. Cherokee Nations in Tahlequah. my parents live 19 miles from tahlequah., in peggs, oklahoma. you are awesome for keeping up on our native plants. Thank you. I am nanny pat sitsler-george on fb. or my e-mail nannypat1957@yahoo.com
My dad made 7-bark burn salve. His grandmother was Cherokee. Her name was White Cloud. He talked about her a lot. He knew so many plants & things they’d cure. I wish I’d have written everything down. Dad didn’t know what the plant was. He called it 7 bark. Everyone called him Chief. I’m glad someone knows how to make these natural medicines.
Thank you for you interest and your story is one of the primary reason for my blog. It is so important for this information to be available to all Cherokees via the convenience of social media. We are just one generation away from losing our cultural heritage.
Enjoyed your Program at Sautee Nacoochee Center
S.A.D.D.
I have been searching for images of pawpaw trees in flower and fruit to help illustrate an article we are publishing in the October issue of Early American Life magazine, but I have been having difficulty locating images that are large enough to meet our print specifications. You have a wonderful image on your site of a tree with fruit, which I would like to use. The image I found on the web is large enough, so I don’t need another file, just your written permission to publish it. We would credit it as you request and send a copy of the issue upon publication.
Do you also have an image of the tree’s flowers we can use? We need to complete the issue early next week, so please respond as soon as possible. Thank you for your consideration.
Thanks you for visiting our blog. The images for the pawpaw came from several sites. The image of the actural fruit came from an another website (and it was not notated as a protected image). The last two pawpaw images are our personal photos and you have our permission to use them. You also asked about pawpaw blooms-our last two personal images show the dark maroon blooms which are often hidden under the emerging leaves. They are quite lovely but are not very visible. Hope that this helps.
Thoroughly enjoyed the presentation at Funk Heritage Center this past Friday. Thank You!
We met on the trail at Green Meadows Preserve. It was so nice to stop and talk a little history about this land and the Cherokee Indians. Another native nursery is Beech Hollow Farm. Pandra just open a store in Scottdale, not far from the Dekalb Farmers Market…
https://beechhollowfarms.com/contact-us/