Module 11: Language Policy

"The Trail Where They Cried" : a brief history of the "Trail of Tears"

The Cherokee nation began a small scale migration in the 1800s, before the occurrence of the ‘Trail of Tears’ was in anyone’s eyes. The reason for this migration was to simply because they didn't want any white community intrusion of their culture, so they voluntarily moved west, to lands given to them in Arkansas. Later, they were forced out of this land and forced to migrate to Indian Territory. The Cherokee Nation had adopted some very European style government choices, so they could trade and maintain their own voice and culture. They established a a supreme court, and a constitution. As this occurred, their previously friendly white neighbors, turned against the Cherokee whilst affect by ‘gold fever.’ Eventually, President Jackson, out of the blue (after aiding the Cherokee nation in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend), authorized the removal of the Cherokee so the US could obtain valuable land. The Indian Removal At of 1830 began its term and the Cherokee were forced out of their land and homes. There was music opposition against President Jackson decision of the removal from many senators and reverends, however not enough to eliminate the sanctioned act. There were two main court cases that would decide the removal, Worcester vs. Georgia (1832) and Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia (831). The 1831 case ruled against the Nation, but the Worcester case affirmed Cherokee sovereignty. 

Even so, President Jackson defied the decision of the court and still went through with the uprooting of the Cherokee Nation. Further along the road, in 1835, the Treaty of New Echota was signed by the Cherokee people known as the Treaty Party. This treaty allowed for the US government to obtain all ands east of the Mississippi if the Cherokee could have land in Indian territory, along with money, food, tools and other benefits. Although only 100 Cherokee had signed this treaty, the US government used it as an excuse to follow through with the removal of the entire people. The US Army began to impose the Removal Act during the summer of 1838. The Cherokee were rounded up and loaded tightly into boats to travel across four rivers into the Indian Territory. While this was happening, other Cherokee were held in many prison camps awaiting the journey, or death. The living conditions of the Trail were extremely dangerous for the Cherokee people. At least 4,000 died from the hunger and exposure to numerous diseases. It is also widely assumed that hundreds were murdered by the Army if they did not comply to the orders given to them. 

In my personal opinion the acts performed on the Cherokee people as well as the people of Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, are simply horrific. I cannot personally imagine being uprooted from my home and lifestyle to be locked away or forced on a boat to live in an unfamiliar land without the comfort of my family. From my view, this can almost be considered a genocide of the American Indian people. Though it doesn’t fit the exact terms of what a genocide is, this wide scale removal of a people to gain a little land and wealth is frightening. To show the effect the removal had on the American Indian nation, below I am adding a few quotes that I think fully express the hardships the people had to go through.

"We, the great mass of the people think only of the love we have for our land, we do love the land where we were brought up. We will never let our hold to this land go, to let it go it will be like throwing away (our) mother that gave (us) birth."

- Letter from Aitooweyah to John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee

"I have a little boy...If he is not dead, tell him the last words of his father were that he must never go beyond the Father of Waters, but die in the land of his birth. It is sweet to die in one's native land and be buried by the margins of one's native stream.”

- Tsali, Cherokee Medicine Man awating execution, 1838.

"We are overwhelmed! Our hearts are sickened, our utterance is paralized, when we reflect on the condition in which we are placed, by the audacious practices of unprincipled men, who have managed their stratagems with so much dexterity as to impose on the Government of the United States, in the face of our earnest, solemn, and reiterated protestations."

- Letter from Chief John Ross of the Cherokee, Georgia, 1836

Sources:

“A Brief History of the Trail of Tears.” Cherokee Nation. 2017. cherokee.org.

“Native American Legends: Great Words From Great Americans”. Legends of America. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-quotes.html

Cherokee Quotes. http://www.aaanativearts.com/cherokee/cherokee-quotes.htm

“‘Our Hearts are Sickened’: Letter from Chief John Ross of the Cherokee, Georgia, 1836.” History Matters. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6598/