Tractor

John Franklin Phillips has spent a lifetime as an advocate for Indian people in the Southeastern United States. Prior to and after his retirement from the Methodist Church, Reverend Phillips dedicated his life to the study of, and service and ministry to Native people. He is a descendant of the Chickamauga Cherokee who settled in the Tennessee Valley of north central Alabama under the leadership of Chief Doublehead; his aboriginal heritage was the inspiration for his writing about the life, culture, and history of his Native ancestors.

In his book "The American Indian in the Southeast," John Franklin Phillips shows his love for his Native people who stayed in the North Alabama area; he wrote from his heart about the struggles, trials, and tribulations his American Indian folks endured to stay in the land where their ancestors are buried and to remain in the land they loved. As other mixed blood Indian families, his Celtic Indian parents and grandparents denied their Native ancestry, but passed their compassion and love of their aboriginal heritage on to their children and grandchildren. As a remnant of the first people, John Franklin Phillips tells the story of his Native people from a personal and historical perspective.