MACON. GA. -- Ben Chekotah, 21, a Creek Indian, had never left Oklahoma before last May when he came to Ocmulgee National Monument, at Macon, Georgia, to work for the National Park Service as a park technician.
It was from Georgia in the 1830's that the Creeks were expelled to Oklahoma Territory in the tragic march known to history as the "Trail of Tears." Lately the Department of the Interior and the City of Macon have cooperated in welcoming Creeks back to their traditional home to help visitors understand their early culture in tours of mounds and prehistoric towns of the Indian Mound Builder civilization.
In mid-September a group of 80 Macon, Georgia, citizens organized a trans-Atlantic flight to visit their sister city of Macon in Southern France, Just north of the Swiss border. As a wedding present, they included Ben Chekotah and his Creek bride, Peggy. Peggy works as a sales clerk in the Indian Craftshop established at the monument by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Both are former residents of the other Okmulgee, the one spelled with a "k," in Oklahoma.
Mr. and Mrs. Chekotah brought with them gifts of Creek Indian craftwork for the French city. Ben was undecided whether to wear his National Park Service uniform or the stately robes of the Creek culture. The service said that he would be "in uniform “either way.
