Cherokee - Forced From Their Homeland on the Trail of Tears

The Cherokee - Page 2

Since the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, America's policy had been to allow Indians to remain east of the Mississippi River as long as they became assimilated or "civilized." This meant they were to settle in one place, farm the land, divide communal land into private property, and adopt democracy.

In 1828 the Georgia legislature outlawed the Cherokee government and confiscated tribal lands. Cherokee appeals for federal protection were rejected by President Andrew Jackson.

In 1830, the "Five Civilized Tribes," which included the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee, were still living east of the Mississippi River. Despite the assimilation of the Cherokee, the position of the tribes was not secure. Some felt the presence of the tribes was a threat to peace and security, since many Native Americans had fought against the United States in previous wars, often armed by foreign nations such as Great Britain and Spain. Other white settlers and land speculators simply desired the land that was occupied by the tribes.

Accordingly, governments of the various U.S. states desired that all tribal lands within their boundaries be placed under state jurisdiction. When Georgia moved to enforce state laws on tribal lands, the Cherokee fought them in the U.S. Supreme Court; where the court ruled that while Indian tribes were not sovereign nations, state laws had no force on tribal lands.

However President Andrew Jackson defied the court’s action, when he signed into law the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The Removal Act provided for the government to negotiate removal treaties with the various tribes. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek with the Choctaw was the first such removal treaty implemented; while around 7,000 Choctaw ultimately stayed in Mississippi, about 14,000 moved along the Red River.

In 1835 about 500 leading Cherokee agreed in the Treaty of New Echota to cede the tribal territory in exchange for $5,700,000 and land in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma.) Their action was repudiated by more than nine-tenths of the tribe, and several members of the group were later assassinated. In 1838 federal troops began forcibly evicting the Cherokee. Approximately 1,000 Cherokee escaped to the North Carolina mountains, while those who lived on individually owned land (rather than tribal domains) were not subject to removal. Those who stayed behind eventually formed tribal groups including the Eastern Band Cherokee, based in North Carolina.

Meanwhile, most of the tribe were driven west some 800 miles in a forced march that became known as the Trail of Tears. About 4,000 perished through hunger, disease, exposure, and attacks by bandits during the journey or in stockades awaiting removal. Others died after their arrival in the Indian Territory from disease or food shortages.

Of this tragic event, Samuel Carter, author of Cherokee Sunset, wrote in 1976:

"Then … there came the reign of terror. From the jagged-walled stockades the troops fanned out across the Nation, invading every hamlet, every cabin, rooting out the inhabitants at bayonet point. The Cherokees hardly had time to realize what was happening as they were prodded like so many sheep toward the concentration camps, threatened with knives and pistols, beaten with rifle butts if they resisted"

Trail of Tears painting by Robert Lindneux in the Woolaroc

Museum, Bartlesville, Oklahoma

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From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Native American Founding Fathers - It is too often forgotten that the first to settle America were the Native Americans. They, along with their chiefs and heroes should be commemorated just like like the colonists that formed our Constitution. Utilizing our great vintage photos, we have created a montage to recognize these great founders.