Their Life, Their Path, My Ancestors
Published 7:24 pm Friday, May 16, 2025
- Submitted Photo The book cover holds a deeply personal and symbolic meaning: When Michelle Gilmore was first elected Chief of the Southeastern Mvskoke Nation, her husband commissioned a special sketch as a gift. He worked with an acquaintance for whom drawing as a hobby and asked him to blend two powerful images: a historic painting of Gilmore’s sixth great-grandfather, the renowned Chief Manawa, and a recent photo Chief Gilmore.
The sun was hot; the ground was hard; the roar of highway traffic threatened to drown the voice of Chief Michelle Gilmore Chief of Southeastern Mvskoke Nation.
This week and forward, the voice of the Chief of Southeastern Mvskoke Nation can be heard through the words she recently penned in “Their Life; Their Path, My Ancestors.”
Submitted Photo
Michelle Gilmore was first elected as at-large councilor before being appointed as vice chief. She was elected as Chief of Southeastern Mvskoke Nation n 2019. Chief Gilmore was appointed By Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama to serve as a Commissioner of the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission in 2022 and appointed. Chief Gilmore was appointed by Ivey to the advisory board for the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs on April 1, 2024.
Her name is Morningstar. She is Chief of the Southeastern Mvskoke Nation in Troy, one of the State Recognized tribes in Alabama.
“I never thought of myself as a storyteller,” Gilmore said. “My father was the storyteller. I hope he is listening.”
Growing up, Gilmore knew she was Mvskoke or Creek, as the white man named them because they lived by the creeks.
“I knew who my great-grandfather was and that that he was famous, but I never truly connected the dots of my family tree,” Gilmore said. “My parents and grandparents did not talk about it. I never heard stories about their life or who they were. Ever.”
Then, a quotation by Michael Crichton brought realization to Gilmore that “If you don’t know your history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know that it is a part of a tree.”
“My ancestors’ life was almost forgotten but I really became interested when I became a mother,” Gilmore said. “I did a DNA testing and started my family tree. This journey began 15 years ago with this quote from the movie Jonathan Livingston Seagull: ‘It’s good to be a seeker, but sooner or later you have to be a finder and, then, it is well to give what you have found and gift it to the world for whoever will accept it. ‘
“‘Their Life, Their Path, My Ancestors’ is my gift.”
About two years ago, Dr. Shari Williams with Ridge Macon County Archaeology Project invited Gilmore to speak at the Old Federal Road Storytelling event. Gilmore had never spoken publically before.
“I was terrified,” Gilmore said.
When she finished telling the story of the Mvskoke Nation, she received a standing ovation. “That moment changed everything.”
Now, Gilmore cries every time she tells the story about her ancestors and the trauma of their removal. A dear friend suggested that she put their story on paper “because the story needs to be told.”
“It’s not just my family’s story; it’s the story of the first people of Alabama, before it was ever called Alabama. It belonged to them. Their lives, their history, their struggles should never be forgotten.”
That led to Gilmore’s writing of “Their Life, Their Path, My Ancestors,” which was published in April 2025.
It brings to light a culture that was erased.
“In the past, many never knew it existed,” Gilmore said “As I traced my roots, I discovered stories that had never been spoken by my parents or grandparents …stories that deserve to live on. I hope my story is read, shared and told over and over again, because remembering is how we honor them. We must remember.”
