Cherokee Confederate Veterans Reunion taken in New Orleans in 1903

 "Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephesians 6:2,3 (AKJV)

The following caption appears under the original image:

Above is shown the last photograph ever taken of the remaining members of the famous Thomas Legion, composed of Cherokee Indians in the Confederate Army. The photograph was made in New Orleans at the time of the New Orleans Reunion of Confederate Veterans. The inscription on the banner, displayed in the photograph, is as follows: "Cherokee Veteran Indians of Thomas Legion. 69 N. C. Regiment. Suo-Noo-Kee Camp U. C. V. 4th Brigade, N. C. Division." Reading from left to right, those in the picture are: front row, 1 Young Deer; 2 unidentified; 3 Pheasant; 4 Chief David Reed; 5 Sevier Skitty; back row, 1 the Rev. Bird Saloneta; 2 Dickey Driver; 3 Lieut. Col. W. W. Stringfield of Waynesville; 4 Lieutenant Suatie Owl; 5 Jim Keg; 6 Wesley Crow; 7 unidentified; 8 Lieutenant Calvin Cagle. All of these men are now dead with the exception of Sevier Skitty, who lives one mile from Cherokee. Lieut. Col. Stringfield and Lieut. Cagle were white officers of the legion. Names of the men in the photograph were furnished by James R. Thomas of Waynesville, son of the late Col. W. H. Thomas, who commanded the Thomas Legion. This band of Indians built the first road across the Great Smoky Mountains. 

Source: Cherokee Indians and the American Civil War (thomaslegion.net)

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While reading accounts of how the Unites States Government mistreated the Native Americans, one can understand why many chose to fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War. I know our ancestors were split with some fighting for the Union, while others fought for the Confederacy. Here are two articles from Pray Through History to help the reader understand the dynamics of the relationship between the Native Americans and the U.S. Government:

The General Allotment Act (Dawes Act)

Excerpt: "Many Natives did not want to not feel the pains of being a foreign enclave in their homelands. While they resisted many aspects of Western Culture, they also admired and even craved some of its fruits: new technologies and techniques, trade for useful products, positive interactions with new neighbors, etc. They seemed to both admire and fear the new culture in their land. Some Natives willfully accepted new ways, and others did not." (Source: https://praythroughhistory.com/2017/02/08/the-general-allotment-act-dawes-act/ )

Indian Schools 1893

Excerpt: "... If immersion education was simply offered rather than required, wouldn’t that have been more consistent with our Constitutional principals, and with Your word? As Washington once said, “Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” If a student is placed in a servant-master relationship, where is the room for the joy of discovery? Can curiosity be born in an atmosphere of mandatory compliance?" (Source: https://praythroughhistory.com/2017/03/07/indian-schools-1893/ )

See also: 

• The Five Civilized Tribes in the Civil War (Shiloh Museum of Ozark History - YouYube)