An Analysis of the Cherokee Society in the Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears, was it unjust and inhumane? What happened to the Cherokee during thatlong and treacherous journey? They were brave and listened to the government, but they recievedunproductive land and lost their tribal land. The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or America. The East coast wasburdened with new settlers and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson and thegovernment had to find a way to move people to the West to make room. President Andrew Jacksonpassed the Indian Removal Policy in the year 1830.

The Indian Removal Policy which called for theremoval of Native Americans from the Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia area, alsomoved their capital Echota in Tennessee to the new capital call New Echota, Georgia and then eventuallyto the Indian Territory. The Indian Territory was declared in the Act of Congress in 1830 with the IndianRemoval Policy. Elias Boudinot, Major Ridge, and John Ridge and there corps accepted the responsibility for theremoval of one of the largest tribes in the Southeast that were the earliest to adapt to European ways.

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There was a war involving the Cherokee and the Chickasaw before the Indian Removal Policywas passed.

The Cherokee were defeated by them which caused Chief Dragging Canoe to sign a treaty in1777 to split up their tribe and have the portion of the tribe in Chattanooga, Tennessee called theChickamauga.Chief Doublehead of the Chickamauga, a branch of the Cherokee, signed a treaty to give awaytheir lands. Tribal law says “Death to any Cherokee who proposed to sell or exchange tribal land.

” ChiefDoublehead was later executed by Major Ridge. Again there was another treaty signed in December 29, 1835 which is called The Treaty of NewEchota.

It was signed by a party of 500 Cherokee out of about 17,000. Between 1785 and 1902 twenty-fivetreaties were signed with white men to give up their tribal lands. The Cherokee would find themselves in a nightmare for the next year. In 1838 General WinfieldScott got tired of delaying this longer than the 2 years he waited already so he took charge in collectingthe Cherokee. The Cherokee were taken from their homes and their belongings. The were placed inholding camps so none would escape. The Cherokee were to be moved in the fall of 1838.

The journey did not occur in October, 1838 because of bad weather. They were now supposed tomove 13,000 Cherokee in the spring of 1839 a distance of eight-hundred miles. The Cherokee were fed on meager rations and suffered malnutrition. They were badly clothed forthe spring and many caught diseases and died. Many Cherokee tried to escape and some succeeded. TheCherokee knew these woodlands and knew where to go. The white men couldn’t find them without thehelp of other Cherokee and bribes. Most of the Cherokee hid in the mountains and could not be found.

During the eight-hundred mile trek many children and spouses were separated from theirfamilies when the Government would split up the Cherokee into groups of 1,000 for ease of removal.About one-third of the original Cherokee they collected died in the holding camps and between the trekfrom the Southeast section of the Union to Indian Territory. They would have to learn a new way of life and adjust. They lost their negro slaves, and theirpossessions. The Cherokee were farmers, and the land was infertile. The land was meant for cattle raising, which they didn’t know ho to do.

They built a capital city called Tahlequah, and their nation was declared in September 6, 1839. Their culture was bred here along their new way of life. John Ross who was elected by the Cherokee as the President of the Cherokee nation in 1827 continues his roll in the land, shared with another seventy tribes. They had opened up schools in the Indian Territory to continue their education for their children. The firstCherokee school opened in 1801 when the people were learning their language.

Their written languagewhich consists of 85 characters, was said to be created by a Sequoia (1760-1843), a Cherokee leader.Sequoia translated the Bible, wrote many books, and helped publish the newspaper, “The CherokeePhoenix.” This was contradicted in Dialogue-Everyman’s Encyclopedia Story #1989130. It said the manwho created the 85 character written language was George Guess. The Cherokee Phoenix was published in both languages-English and the Cherokees’. TheCherokee had mixed blood from the early British settlers and traders.

Therefore, the Cherokee wereeducated in both languages. For over half a century the Cherokee have abstained from becoming American Citizens until 1906 when the Unites States made all tribal members U.S. Citizens. A year later the Indian Territory wasadmitted into the Union as the state of Oklahoma. During this period many Cherokee started breaking away and mixing their blood. In 1930 forty-five thousand two hundred thirty-eight Cherokee left Oklahoma and headed East from where they came. The Cherokee started slowly changing their religion.

There are many who are Jewish, Episcopalian, and Hindu. The 10,000 Cherokee that survived the Trail of Tears and the other Cherokee that were not takenfor the removal slowly gained back in population in a century. The Tahlequah Agency in Oklahoma hassaid there were 42,992 Cherokee living in Tahlequah in 1982. The U.S. Census has shown 293,074Cherokee are living in more than 30 states in the United States. Now the Cherokee Nation is under controlof the first woman chief. In November 1983 Wilma Mankiller was elected to the office of the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee survived the hardships of the Trail of Tears and the loss of their loved ones and allthat belonged to them. Their population continues to grow inspite of the immense number of tribalmembers that were lost during this era.