The Trail Of Tears

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The Trail of Tears
In the spring of 1838, the U.S. Army forced more than 15,000 Cherokee Indians from their homelands in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (Perdue & Green, 1). They were forced to travel over 1,000 miles to what is now Oklahoma (Gilbert, 2). Many walked the entire trip without shoes or much clothing. Food was scarce; the little amount of food they did receive had gone bad and made many sick, killing thousands. Many more along the way died as a result of terrible illnesses. The bodies were buried in silent graves at each stop along the trail (3). The Cherokee Indians called the journey Nunahi-Duna-Dlo-Hilu-I, which translates to “Trail Where They Cried,” now known as the Trail of Tears. The removal is a direct result of the Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 (2). The Act stated that “no state could achieve proper culture, civilization, and progress, as long as Indians remained within its boundaries.” Thereby forcing five Indian tribes to move to the Indian Territory, Oklahoma. The Cherokee Indians experienced a lifetime of hardships in just a few short years. From having their traditional lives that generations had grown accustomed to taken from them to enduring a painful journey to a foreign place, the Cherokees have come a long way (3).
The Cherokees lived in the valleys of the Appalachian Mountains. When they first inhabited this land the United States did not exist, but their lands could be described today as North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama (Perdue & Green, 1). More than sixty Cherokee villages and towns were located along the Great Smoky Mountains of Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Most members of the tribe lived fairly well, like white settlers, in log cabins. For their means of survival they farmed, raised livestock, and worked on crafts such as weaving, basketry and pottery (Gilbert, 6). The Cherokee people divided the tasks on the b...