A well-known story surrounding one of Loudermilk 's songs is that , when he was asked by the '' Viva ! NashVegas '' radio show about the origins of the Raiders ' hit song " Indian Reservation " , he fabricated the story that he wrote the song after his car was snowed in by a blizzard and he was taken in by Cherokee Indians . A self-professed prankster , he spun the tale that a Cherokee chieftain , " Bloody Bear Tooth " asked him to make a song about his people 's plight and the Trail of Tears , even going so far as to claim that he had later been awarded " the first medal of the Cherokee Nation " , not for writing the song , but for his " blood " ; further fabricating that his " great-great grandparents , Homer and Matilda Loudermilk " were listed on the Dawes Rolls . Had this tall tale been true , he would have been a citizen of the Cherokee Nation , which he was not . Neither the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians , nor the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians , nor the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma communities ( the only federally-recognized Cherokee tribes ) are known as " reservations . "
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
John D. Loudermilk