In the beginning, the Cherokee believed that the
earth was covered with
water and that beavers came from the sky to drag the mud from the ocean
bottom and bring it to the top. The beavers then attached it to the sky and created the land. The "great buzzard" now flew to the ground where he flapped his wings while the valleys
and mountains were formed. It was on one of these flights that the "great buzzard" created the land on which the Cherokees lived.
By the 1800's, the Cherokee had taken to the white man's ways. They were
farmers who cultivated the land while living peacefully with those around
them. But this was not good enough for some who envied their land and
others, like President Andrew Jackson, whose racial hatred towards the
natives now drove them to rationalize any excess. In 1829, the Georgia
legislature passed laws that would extend its authority over the land of the
Cherokees. The Indians were given a choice that either the Cherokees could
leave the state or they could succumb to white rule.
Chief John Ross protested against this unjust policy and went to President
Jackson and to ask for federal protection. The Cherokees had signed a
treaty with the U.S. government that promised them protection, however, their protest fell upon deaf ears. Jackson not only refused their request, but the old Indian hater sent his
Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, to negotiate a new treaty with a minority faction of the tribe who favored removal. The removal faction was granted $3,000,000 in payment. The treaty
had to be ratified by the whole nation so Cass proclaimed that only the pro removal faction would be eligible to vote. The vote was a sham with only about 4% of the Cherokee
nation approving of the treaty. Congress, despite protests from Chief Ross,
quickly passed the accord.
This set off a tidal wave of land grabbers who plundered the new land, often
killing the natives in the process. Most of the Cherokees refused to leave
and federal troops, under the command of General Winfield Scott, were sent
in to remove the natives. Their tactics could only be described as genocide.
The Cherokees were given no time in which to gather their belongings before
they were ordered on a forced march in which 25% of the tribe would perish.
Their homes were ransacked as plunderers stole their belongings and then
sold them right in front of their eyes. The sellers and the buyers conspired
to cheat the Cherokee.
The march took place in the middle of the winter as one of the exiles commented: "Looks like maybe all be dead before we get to new Indian country." The removal took them from their sacred home where the "great buzzard" had come and left them in a land that they knew nothing about. Their land went to speculators and slave owners. The Cherokee were left alone for a while but white settlers would again take their land in the Oklahoma land rush at the end of the century.
This injustice haunts our history since reparations have never been made to
the Cherokee. Maybe it is time they should.
By Denis Mueller From the Archives of Blue Panther
water and that beavers came from the sky to drag the mud from the ocean
bottom and bring it to the top. The beavers then attached it to the sky and created the land. The "great buzzard" now flew to the ground where he flapped his wings while the valleys
and mountains were formed. It was on one of these flights that the "great buzzard" created the land on which the Cherokees lived.
By the 1800's, the Cherokee had taken to the white man's ways. They were
farmers who cultivated the land while living peacefully with those around
them. But this was not good enough for some who envied their land and
others, like President Andrew Jackson, whose racial hatred towards the
natives now drove them to rationalize any excess. In 1829, the Georgia
legislature passed laws that would extend its authority over the land of the
Cherokees. The Indians were given a choice that either the Cherokees could
leave the state or they could succumb to white rule.
Chief John Ross protested against this unjust policy and went to President
Jackson and to ask for federal protection. The Cherokees had signed a
treaty with the U.S. government that promised them protection, however, their protest fell upon deaf ears. Jackson not only refused their request, but the old Indian hater sent his
Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, to negotiate a new treaty with a minority faction of the tribe who favored removal. The removal faction was granted $3,000,000 in payment. The treaty
had to be ratified by the whole nation so Cass proclaimed that only the pro removal faction would be eligible to vote. The vote was a sham with only about 4% of the Cherokee
nation approving of the treaty. Congress, despite protests from Chief Ross,
quickly passed the accord.
This set off a tidal wave of land grabbers who plundered the new land, often
killing the natives in the process. Most of the Cherokees refused to leave
and federal troops, under the command of General Winfield Scott, were sent
in to remove the natives. Their tactics could only be described as genocide.
The Cherokees were given no time in which to gather their belongings before
they were ordered on a forced march in which 25% of the tribe would perish.
Their homes were ransacked as plunderers stole their belongings and then
sold them right in front of their eyes. The sellers and the buyers conspired
to cheat the Cherokee.
The march took place in the middle of the winter as one of the exiles commented: "Looks like maybe all be dead before we get to new Indian country." The removal took them from their sacred home where the "great buzzard" had come and left them in a land that they knew nothing about. Their land went to speculators and slave owners. The Cherokee were left alone for a while but white settlers would again take their land in the Oklahoma land rush at the end of the century.
This injustice haunts our history since reparations have never been made to
the Cherokee. Maybe it is time they should.
By Denis Mueller From the Archives of Blue Panther
 |
| Blacks on the Trail of Tears |
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