The Trail of Tears
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On September 15, 1830, at Little Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Chiefs of the Choctaw Nation and representatives of the U.S. met to discuss the impact of a bill recently passed by the Congress of the U.S. This bill, with all the same good intentions of those today who believe they know better than we how to conduct our lives, allowed for the removal of all Indian peoples to the West of the Mississippi River.
It had been made clear to the Choctaw, that the Whites in Washington cared little for our situation, that either we willingly moved, or by military force we would be moved. We were not ignorant savages, but industrious farmers, merchants, and businessmen of all types. We were educated people, many were Christians. We had an organized system of government and a codified body of law. Some of these people were not even Indians, many strangers and orphans had been taken in over the years.
The Chiefs and Warriors signed the treaty, realizing they had no option. For doing this the government officials guaranteed, in the body of the treaty, safe conveyance to our new homes. (Do not forget for a moment that in this treaty, the Choctaw traded 10.3 million acres of land east of the Mississipi for 10.3 acres in Oklahoma and Arkansas that we already owned under previous treaties) Further, it included provisions and monetary annuities, to assist the people to make a new start. One half of the people were to depart almost immediately, the rest the next year.
After the signing of the treaty, many saw their land and property sold before their own eyes. The "conveyances" promised turn out to be a forced march. At the point of a gun, the pace killed many of the old, exposure and bad food killed most. Rotten beef and vegatables are poor provisions, even for the idle. Many walked the entire distance without shoes, barely clothed. What supplies were given had been rejected by the whites. This cannot directly blamed on the goverment, nearly all of this was done by unscrupulous men, interested only in maximizing their profits. They government's fault lies in not being watchful of those taken into their charge. Many of the old and the children died on the road. At each allowed stop, the dead were buried. Hearing of this many escaped. They knew that as they signed the rolls, to be "removed", that this might as well be their death warrants. They took refuge in the hills, the swamps, and other places too inhospitable for the whites. Even as this ocurred, those in charge reported their "peaceful progress" to Congress, who looked no further.
Those of us who evaded the rolls were accepted by neither the whites nor the "papered" Indians. Still others claimed to be "Black Dutch," Spanish, Creole, or Black. (My own granfather later lied to the census taker, saying he was one sixty-fourth. At that degree, he could still live and own land on the reservation. He was "enrolled" at that number. Granny claimed to be Black Dutch). Many others fled to Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana, even into the swamps of the Okeefenokee.
The "fertile lands, alive with game, lush with forests" turned out to be bone-dry and covered in alkalai pits, and a strange black ooze that stank and caught fire easily. Blistering hot in the summer, freezing in the winter, this land was still their own. And then the whites decided they needed more land. Again, pressure was brought to bear on the Choctaw. By this time the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Cree, Kickapoo, Seminole, Wyandotte, Lenapi, Mohawk, and others whose names you would not recognize, had their reservations shrunk around them. The Choctaw had only been the first to be removed, the goverment drunk with power and in fit of lust for land, had removed nearly all. The Mississippi Band of the Choctaw had temporarily avoided displacement, but had their land stripped down to 500 acres, but within five years none of that land was in Indian hands. Already Arkansas had begun to be settled by whites, who ignored the treaties. Even those who fled to California were being displaced by miners, famers and ranchers. The discovery of gold galvanized the vise forming around the Indian people, so that expansion from the East was equalled by expansion from the West.
The altruistic government, in love and charity removed many of the young to "boarding schools" where they were "civilized," which meant being given white names, speaking only English, and being forbidden to worship their "pagan" gods. To this day most Indians, even full-bloods, are not fluent in their own mother-tongues.
The final blow came when the white decided he needed the black ooze and again the process accelerated. By that time, Custer, making illegal sorties into the Black Hills, had discovered gold there too. The Lakota watched their lands, cut to almost a third and then again until nearly all was gone.
In the 1880's, came Wovoka, who offered a message of hope and peace. With him he brought the Ghost Dance and all tribes listened to that Siren song. At the peak of this frenzy came Wounded Knee. There, unarmed and innocent men, women, and children were murdered by scared Cavalry, who never took the time to find out what this was all about. Adding insult to injury, Medals of Honor were given to these men. Every white child knew, "the only good Indian is a dead Indian."
Even now, when the tribes speak of sovereignty, men like Senator Gorton wonder why. All we ever asked for was the dignity of free men, to live at peace, and worship God in our own ways.
http://www.powersource.com/cocinc/history/trail.htm
This is a great link to read more on the trail of tears
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by karen AKA Blue Wolf Running on -
and some of us still cry for our brothers and sisters.even tho (as far as i know ) i have no Native blood in me i feel as though i am a sister and i cry for what my white brothers and sisters did.
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Permalink Reply by Star-Dust on -
This was bad and we had nothing to do with what our fore fathers did. But it is sad for everyone. Indians and the Whites. Blacks and Indians both were treated bad. l think the Indians had it worse because their way of life was mess up and they got sick over the white man's sickness, they had no treatment to help them selves. l think this is why we are able to love all race now, because we know how bad some were treated, and we all do not want this to ever happen again.
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Permalink Reply by Blue Jay on -
Thank you my sister for keeping this in our memorys' eyes.........we can never forget, nor should we, what the great nations of peoples endured at the hands of deliriously power/money drunk invaders and thieves who savaged innocent babies, children, women, elders, and men for the sake of a few fleeting dollars............as far as men who would still try to wrest away the remnants of a rightfully soveriegn peoples today.......they will never succeed...... we had THE LONGEST WALK in 1978 and we can have another one tomorrow if we have to........never in the history of the world has it been acceptible for any nation/government to destroy a people(s) lineage, culture, and way of life.......everyone always clamors about the Jewish holocaust, another travesty and horror the smart animal, "Man" has perpetrated upon his fellow human beings......and the atrocities around the world as we speak.......how and why is what happened to the GREAT ORIGINAL PEOPLES who were here for thousands and thousands of years before Columbus "discovered" these lands, ANY LESS IMPORTANT?? The truth is... America is shamed and should be for what it has done to Native peoples, African descent peoples, and on and on.............WHAT GIVES WITH THE COLOR OF SKIN ISSUES IN THIS COUNTRY STILL TO THIS DAY???......IT'S HIGH TIME THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA TODAY STAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE ITS MISTAKES OF THE PAST INSTEAD OF TRYING TO CONTINUE TO HIDE IT AND SWEEP IT UNDER THE HISTORY RUGS....WE NEED TO GIVE THE NATIVE PEOPLES A NATIONAL HOLIDAY SUCH AS THAT BESTOWED UPON MARTIN LUTHER KING.......OUR PEOPLES WERE LIVING AND PRACTICING THE WAYS OF PEACE AND BROTHERHOOD/SISTERHOOD THAT HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR FROM DAY ONE WHEN THIS COUNTRY WAS INVADED AND STOLEN FROM THE RIGHTFUL "OWNERS".....TALK ABOUT GENOCIDE?.....THEY ARE NO LESS DESERVING THAN HE AND TRULY DESERVE AN ACKNOWLEDGED PLACE IN THIS COUNTRYS' PUBLIC HISTORICAL FORUM: ITS HOLIDAY CALENDER......
When the US government and the people it represents, can finally acknowledge and realize openly what has happened to our great peoples, and honor them and apologize.... they WILL be respected more on the world stage and not seem as hypocrites and greedy vultures to their enemies around the world........to be respected one needs to live and be an example to those around them.......the example that's been set over the last four hundred years + in the treatment of human beings and "rights" by the US nation leaves much to be desired and at best is a start..... and at worst....a joke....
Blue Jay of the Truemusic
I am
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Permalink Reply by Bineshii on -
There are some people still alive today who remember being beaten in those boarding schools for speaking their native languages and because of this can only manage to speak their native language when they have been drinking alcohol. But my four-year-old granddaughter is learning Ojibwe at Indian Community School. She goes all day to four-year-old kindergarten and for an hour a day, learns her language. At home we only know a few phrases. But Ojibwe with about 60,000 speakers in the U. S. and Canada is one of the Native languages on this continent that just may survive, though hundreds of languages have already been lost. Miigwech, Gichi Manidoo, for this hope of saving one of these beautiful languages,for language is the heart of a culture. Blessed be.
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Permalink Reply by Star-Dust on
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The languages are impoetant to hold on too. And it never hurts to learn many languages. l did not have a hard life as a Indian, But l know some did and we are have some problems with some laws.
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Permalink Reply by Keziah Santana on -
I am from Gibraltar, i am not Native, but i feel for what all of them have gone through. I feel disgusted of the power
of man, destroying people for land or for gold. I read the book bury my heart on wounded knee, it really makes me sad. There will be no equality until Native American People can be heard and given rights to them. We cut ourselves and all of us have the same blood. Who is man to destroy?? My heart goes out to all of you.
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Permalink Reply by Star-Dust on
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http://www.cherokee.org/Culture/Dikaneisdi.aspx?english=Prepaid
You may want to try and use this to learn the Cherokee language. To say a few words is better then no words of your tribe words. l live in WV and have know many Indians here of different tribes.l never heard if my people walked the trail of tears. They never spoke of it around me. But l think my people went north into Canada. l think.
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Permalink Reply by Ladyhawk on -
This is a very powerful subject and it's memory is the perfect way to see in the new year. It is a good thing to never forget those times and it's mark of disgrace left on mankind. It is also good to realize that ethnic cleansing is not isolated to this country. Ancient history to today is full of it and yes it still goes on. So let us remember those times that are the closest to us, let us feel the shame, pain and sorrow, let the truth be known, and above all let us pray that in the new world, mankind has learned from this.........Much Love and Many Blessings for the New Year, Ladyhawk
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Permalink Reply by SILVERWOLF on -
There were many PEOPLES whom were treated bad, and many were marked for for inhalation, by those who thought that they were superior in some way or another. When ever I preform my native styled flutes, I begin by explaining that there are no Superior or inferior life forms on this planet, we were all put here by the great Creator to keep his/her world his/her creation strong. Each life form from ant to humans all have a job in the circle of life and none are more important then the other. I also state that we all come from the same origins and that the flute being the oldest instrument, has been dated back 42,000 years. An Eagle bone flute was found in the grave goods of a Neanderthal burial site, so they do not belong to one race, but all races!
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Permalink Reply by YAMELLA on -
I AM AN ORIGINAL (AMORIE-CAN- BLACK-CANANITE),MY FATHER SAID HIS FATHER WAS A CHEROKEE CHIEF. MY MOTHER WAS SENT TO BOARDING SCHOOL. THE OHIO VALLEY WAS THAT OF THE DELAWARE NATION AT ONE TIME. SHE NEVER TALKED ABOUT HER FAMILY VERY MUCH. BUT THE PASS ELUDES ME OF WHO I REALLY AM. AS A CHILD I HAD DREAMS OF GREAT MOUNDS AND RUNNING RIVERS AND GREAT MOUNTIANS.RUNNING FREE WITH THE DEER AND ALL GOD'S CREATURES WERE MY KI . THE SPIRIT WITHIN HAUNTS ME TO BECKING ME TO REMEMBRANCE. BUT I AM STILL FRAGMENTED. I JOINED THIS GROUP TO INCITE ME TO REMEMBER. I HAVE NO PAPER ROLLS BECAUSE MY PARENTS CHANGED THEIR NAMES SO MUCH THAT IT'S HARD TO TRACE. I WAS RAISED IN FOSTER HOME. BUT I BELIEVE THIS TIME SPENT IN THIS REALM IS FOR A REASON,YET TO BE DISCOVERED. I REMEMBER THE PICTURE OF MY GRANDFATHERS REGALIA WITH HIS HEADDRESS AND HIS STAFF. AFTER FINALLY MEETING MY FATHER AT 14. AS A CHILD WHITE PEOPLE AND BLACK PEOPLE WOULD ASK ME IF I WERE OF INDIAN DECENT.STATING THE FACIAL CHEEKBONES AND THE EYES AND HAIR,THE FOREHEAD.I HAVE HISTORICALLY FOUND THAT THE ORIGINALS WERE OF AFRICAN DECENT. WHO WERE SEPARATED FROM AFRICA ,BY THE LANDS DRIFTING APART. THAT THE LAND WAS ONCE ONE. THEY, THE HUE-MAN HAD ALWAYS BEEN HERE. MANY DON'T WANT TO ACKNOWLEGDE THIS BECAUSE OF RACISM. IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEALS ON HOW TO FUTHER MY JOURNEY,PLEASE DO. MY MOTHER NAMED ME JINELLA-YEMELLA-YAHCAHNAH- CLARA-ADSIA-SIRUS STAR-RIVERS-WU
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