Do you have any Native American ancestry? Did your ancestors walk the Trail of Tears?
We all may have heard of "The Trail of Tears", how much do you really know about it?
The Cherokee had long called western Georgia home. The Cherokee Nation continued in their enchanted land until 1828. It was then rumored gold, was discovered in the North Georgia mountains. Then, as you may guess was when political leaders in the United States said they believed the Indians should be "civilized", which to them meant converting "natives" to Christianity and turning them into farmers. Many other citizens agreed sadly, they were intimidated by the Native American population. Soon missionaries were sent among the tribes. When the conversion did not happen fast enough, views changed about the Indian people's ability to be assimilated into white culture.
In 1825 the U.S. government formally adopted a removal policy, which was carried out throughout in the 1830's by Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
One of the most devastating episodes of this time is that concerning the removal of the Cherokee Indians.
Traditionally the Cherokees had lived in villages in the southern Appalachians in a land of valleys, ridges, mountains, and streams. They built a culture based on farming, hunting, and fishing.
The Cherokees also took on some of the ways of white society.
They built homes and farms, developed a written language, published their own newspaper, and even wrote a constitution. But sadly, they were not given equal protection under the law and that they could not prevent whites from seizing their lands. They were driven from their land and property.
Forced to travel from their Native land to a strange land starting on May 23, 1838.
Dekalb County, Alabama was once the home of the Cherokee Nation who were placed on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838. The main tribes were primarily the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles.
The "Trail of Tears" was the forced removal of these proud Native American people from their lands in the Southeastern United States.
In 1825 the U.S. government formally adopted a removal policy, which was carried out throughout in the 1830's by Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
One of the most devastating episodes of this time is that concerning the removal of the Cherokee Indians.
Traditionally the Cherokees had lived in villages in the southern Appalachians in a land of valleys, ridges, mountains, and streams. They built a culture based on farming, hunting, and fishing.
The Cherokees also took on some of the ways of white society.
They built homes and farms, developed a written language, published their own newspaper, and even wrote a constitution. But sadly, they were not given equal protection under the law and that they could not prevent whites from seizing their lands. They were driven from their land and property.
Forced to travel from their Native land to a strange land starting on May 23, 1838.
Dekalb County, Alabama was once the home of the Cherokee Nation who were placed on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838. The main tribes were primarily the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles.
The "Trail of Tears" was the forced removal of these proud Native American people from their lands in the Southeastern United States.
They departed Fort Payne to the top of Sand Mountain, across Sand Mountain on to Gunter's Landing, now Guntersville. There they joined with others by crossing the river. They faced many hardships and suffered with sickness along the way.
Mortality rates for the entire removal and its aftermath were substantial, totaling around 3,000 - 5,000. Some groups suffered more because of a severe drought and disease spread especially among the children.
It is estimated that 1 out of every 7 who walked the trail perished before making it to Oklahoma. By 1840 all the eastern tribes had been subdued, annihilated or forcibly removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi.
Mortality rates for the entire removal and its aftermath were substantial, totaling around 3,000 - 5,000. Some groups suffered more because of a severe drought and disease spread especially among the children.
It is estimated that 1 out of every 7 who walked the trail perished before making it to Oklahoma. By 1840 all the eastern tribes had been subdued, annihilated or forcibly removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi.
For many years since then, the Cherokees have sought to maintain much of their cultural identity. To keep their heritage alive, many of them have helped to advocate the Trail of Tears as a national historic trail.
We can't turn back the clock and undo this tragic act but we can educate others in the hope that this never happens again to another race of people.
One group of Cherokees did not leave the mountains of North Carolina. This group was thought not to be a tribe, but a mix of those who were able to get away before the moment of the forced removal. When hunted out they were able to hide. This group traced their origin to an 1819 treaty that gave them an allotment of land and American citizenship on lands not belonging to the Cherokee Nation. When the forced removal came in 1838, they claimed the 1835 treaty did not apply to them as they no longer lived on Cherokee lands.
Tsali was one of the main members of this group. Tsali and his sons were involved in raids on the U.S. soldiers who were sent to drive them out. They were punished by the army, the rest of the group were allowed to stay. North Carolina ultimately recognized their rights. Cherokees who had hidden among these mountains, also kept soldiers from entering the Mountain. Other Cherokee also joined the group of Oconaluftee Cherokees, later this group became the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who still reside in North Carolina today.
The traces of Cherokee in my own blood comes from these brave people.
"I would sooner be honestly damned than hypocritically immortalized"
Davy Crockett
His political career destroyed because he supported the Cherokee, he left Washington D. C. and headed west to Texas
Where did they walk?
Here is a link to a sacred Native American site I just visited:
Visiting the Petroglyphs of Grapevine Canyon
by ~~JOY ~~it's my name, not that I bring it ;-) H. | edit | delete
to groups: "We Don't Care If You Forget Where You're Supposed to Post It", *~Happy Posting! Post to Your Heart's Content!~*, A Little Bit of Everything..., A Place for Opinions, A Simple Tribute
tags: easy hikes, petroglyphs, majestic places, nature, environment
rating: 10 | comments: 13
June 07, 2007 05:31 PM EDT -- My first trip to Grapevine Canyon was early this year. Visiting my mother in nearby Arizona, we stopped outside of Laughlin, Nevada for a side trip back in time. When I learned the area in . . . more
by ~~JOY ~~it's my name, not that I bring it ;-) H. | edit | delete
to groups: "We Don't Care If You Forget Where You're Supposed to Post It", *~Happy Posting! Post to Your Heart's Content!~*, A Little Bit of Everything..., A Place for Opinions, A Simple Tribute
tags: easy hikes, petroglyphs, majestic places, nature, environment
rating: 10 | comments: 13
June 07, 2007 05:31 PM EDT -- My first trip to Grapevine Canyon was early this year. Visiting my mother in nearby Arizona, we stopped outside of Laughlin, Nevada for a side trip back in time. When I learned the area in . . . more
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Comments: 41
In fact, the entire family often jokes about the "Grandma McCann genes." She is the Cherokee great-grandmother, and she also lived in North Carolina. Having read all about the Trail of Tears, I often wondered how she managed to live in North Carolina. Thank you so much for explaining that to me.
Today I can say it out loud that I am proud of my ancestory when not that long ago you couldn't say that openly. Why because they were Native American? They were here long before the Europeans. I have so many ancestors from so many places guess I'm a true American, Irish, English, Scotish, and Cherokee that I am sure about but who knows who else lurks back there in the past just waiting to leap out and say hey you are my decendant... :o)
that is if they would care to claim me...lol
I love your artilce. I give it a ten.
My grandfather was another tribe, I haven't found out which yet.
Recently I got the obituary about my grandfather (he was murdered, shot in the back) yet the article said something like the darkskinned man weilding an ax! It was clear they were alluding to him being an Indian.
You may be able to find out by looking the census information.
(on ancestry.com or through your local libraries computer)
I always avoided reading Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee"
because I was worried I would cry the whole way through.
Looking back now, its kind of silly, some of the best books make you cry.
I will check it out.
Right now I am reading a book about Oatman, Az and the Oatman sisters who were kidnapped by the local Native American tribe. I may write a review on it when I am finished. (I visited the area a few months ago and became interested)
With all I know about the harm the U.S has done to my own ancestors, I wanted to get insight on a hostile group.
All- you would be surprised what you can find digging through the census.
Most people listed as born in the United States, instead of a specific state were
Native American.
Most Mexicans are (at least partly) of some Native American ancestry. (Mexico has several Indian tribes today, who do not speak Spanish)
James- I was told by family, that it was not really spoken of openly.
I figured that was due to the removal. (my great grandmother married white to remain in the Ga/Al area) Thanks for sharing that information with me.
I am trying to pin point the other Native American tribes I relate to, but I am not sure I ever will. (One Great Grandfather was a trader and mountain man)
I plan to go there again after summertime.
D.
As horrific as the Trail of Tears was, there are some spots of light in the stories, one I read mentioned some soldiers giving up their coats to the People because they were rousted out of their homes in the wintertime and were freezing. Goes to show that however wrong a government's policies can be, small kindnesses from the heart that beats within the individuals can still shine.
Sadly, I must say, the removals and landgrabs are not over. Our gov't still takes land and resources back from Native Peoples whenever there is seen something there worth taking. People interested can look into Peabody Coal and Black Mesa, for one. They want the Dineh moved off that land for the resources and where they're trying to move them to is dangerously polluted.
I love to learn about my heritage Joy.
This was very informative.
I always enjoyed the story my grandfather told me about
The Trail of Tears/The Trail where they cried and
The Legend of the Cherokee Rose.
Here is some of the story.
The mothers of the Cherokee grieved so intensely, that the chiefs prayed for a sign to lift the mother's spirits. This gave them enough strength to care for their children.
From that day forward, a beautiful and unique new flower, a rose, grew wherever a mother's tear fell to the ground.
The rose is white, to represent the mother's tears. It has a gold center, for the gold taken from the Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem that represent the seven Cherokee clans that made the journey.
To this very day, the Cherokee Rose grows
in large numbers, along the "Trail of Tears". The Cherokee Rose is now the official flower of Georgia. When you see a white rose, remember the Cherokee Nation.
German and Dutch
A little bit Injun
(But not very much)...
Great-Grandma was deemed eligible for the Hayes Roll (at least 1/16 Cherokee, early 1900's, north-eastern Oklahoma) -- and refused to be added. Too proud to take what she saw as government charity, and still a time when being called "Injun" was a social stigma to be avoided in her mindset. I grew up among Osage schoolmates in grade school, and Cheyenne-Arapaho in high school.
Some of all that rubbed off...
Pax ... Kihe