The Great Slaughter & Land Seizure Of

Native Americans -

The Original Owners of America !

The US Corporate Government Has Much Blood On Its Hands !

They Seized (Stole) Lands and Lives That Belonged To The Native American Indians !!

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The Cherokee are a people native to North America who at time of European contact in the 16th century inhabited what is now the eastern and southeastern United States before most were forcefully moved to the Ozark Plateau. They were one of the tribes referred to by Native Americans as the 'Five Civilized Tribes'.

Bands and Naming

Bands recognized by the United States government, but representing only 250,000 Cherokees, have headquarters in Tahlequah, Oklahoma (the Cherokee Nation), and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and at Cherokee, North Carolina (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians). State-recognized Cherokee tribes have headquarters in Georgia and Alabama. Other large and small non-recognized Cherokee organizations are located in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and other locations in the United States.

A 1984 KJRH-TV documentary, "Spirit of the Fire" called the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society the "spiritual core" of the nation in reference to the traditional ceremonies and rituals practiced and maintained by the Keetoowah. Redbird Smith was an influential Nighthawk member and the group revitalized traditional spirituality among Cherokees, beginning in the 19th century. Today there are seven ceremonial dance grounds in Oklahoma and these either belong to the Keetoowah tradition or the Four Mothers Society.

The origin of the term "Cherokee" is not exactly known. One view is that the name Cherokee is an old pronunciation of Chillokee ('cave dwellers'), which is the name (derogatory?) for the Cherokees in the Creek language, as well as the term now most commonly used by the Cherokee themselves, Tsalagi. An early spelling of "Cherokee" is "Chelohi," which means "I am of the Earth" in Cherokee. The name which the Cherokees originally used for themselves is Aniyvwiyai ('principal people').

Language and Writing System

The Cherokee speak an Iroquoian language which is polysynthetic and is written in a syllabary invented by Sequoyah. For years, many people wrote transliterated Cherokee on the Internet or used poorly intercompatible fonts to type out the syllabary. However, since the fairly recent addition of the Cherokee syllables to Unicode, the Cherokee language is experiencing a renaissance in its use on the Internet. There is now a Cherokee-language Wikipedia.

History

Beginning at about the time of the American Revolutionary War, divisions over continued accommodation of encroachments by white settlers, despite repeated violations of previous treaties, caused some Cherokee to begin to leave the Cherokee Nation in the late 1700's. These early dissidents would eventually move across the Mississippi River to areas that would later become the states of Arkansas and Missouri. Their settlements were established on the St. Francis and the White Rivers by 1800. Eventually, there were such large numbers of Cherokees in these areas the US Government established a Cherokee Reservation located in Arkansas, with boundaries from north of the Arkansas River up to the southern bank of the White River. Many of these dissidents became known as the Chickamauga. Led by Chief Dragging Canoe, the Chickamauga made alliances with the Shawnee and engaged in raids against colonial settlements. Other Cherokee leaders who lived in Arkansas were The Bowl, Sequoyah, Spring Frog and The Dutch.

The Cherokee were a peaceful people, and the greedy, hard-hitting US Federal Government took full advantage of this !

By the late 1820's, the Territory of Arkansas had designs on acquiring (stealing) the land held by the Arkansas Cherokees. A delegation of Arkansas Cherokees went to Washington, D.C., and were forced to sign a treaty to vacate the Arkansas 'Reservation'. Arkansas Cherokees had two choices: cooperate with the US government and move to "Indian Territory" (later Oklahoma, then a desolate UN-inhabitable wasteland) or defy the US Government and refuse to leave the Arkansas 'Reservation' area, and suffer the consequences ! Around 1828, the tribe split, some going to 'Indian Territory'. Others disobeyed the US Government and stayed on the old Reservation lands in Arkansas. Those who stayed on the old Arkansas Cherokee Reservation lands have lobbied the US Government since the early 1900's to be considered a Federally recognized Cherokee tribe. The US Government has ignored their pleas. [Why the US Government would have to give their 'okay' or 'approval' for a Tribe to declare themselves a Tribe and Nation, seems to be rather slave-master type ! Especially when the Indians WERE A TRIBE AND NATION BEFORE THIS US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EVER EXISTED OR WAS HERE ! Anyone can declare themselves anything they like ! The US Government does it all the time ! IF they can do it, so can anyone else !]

Today, there are thousands of Cherokees living in Arkansas or Southern Missouri who are relatives of these pre-Trail of Tears Cherokee. (see "We Are Not Yet Conquered" by Beverly Northrup, "The Cherokee People" by Thomas E. Mails, "Myths of The Cherokee" by James Mooney, and The Lost Cherokee Nation)

John Ross was an important figure in the history of the Cherokee tribe. His father emigrated from Scotland prior to the Revolutionary War. His mother was a quarter-blood Cherokee woman whose father was also from Scotland. He began his public career in 1809. The Cherokee Nation was founded in 1820, with elected public officials. John Ross became the chief of the tribe in 1828 and remained the chief until his death.

Cherokees were displaced from their ancestral lands in North Georgia and the Carolinas (and as far south as Florida) because of rapidly expanding white population, as well as a Gold Rush around Dahlonega, Georgia in the 1830's. See: Indian Removal, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, and Trail of Tears.

Samuel Carter, author of Cherokee Sunset, writes, "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 Indian 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."

The white man treated the Indians like no human should treat another ! They tortured the Indians, who had been so good to them ! This US Federal Government has much blood on its hands ! They rule and lord over the Native Americans, when it should be the other way around, since this entire nation belonged to the Indians before the white man came and terrorized, killed, and robbed the Indians of everything they had, including this land ! This land is NOT legally or rightfully the white man's governments !

Once the Cherokees reached 'Indian Territory' (now Oklahoma), tensions ran high and the suspension of the Cherokee Blood Law was ignored by the US Federal Government, as usual. On June 22, 1839, after the adjournment of a tribal meeting, some of the prominent signers of the Treaty of New Echota were assassinated, including the drafter of the Blood Law, Major Ridge, along with John Ridge and Elias Boudinot. This started 15 years of civil war amongst the Cherokees. One of the notable survivors was Stand Watie, who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. The Cherokees were one of the five "civilized tribes" that concluded treaties with, and were recognized, by the Confederate States of America. The Cherokee fought in the Civil War and were excellent soldiers !

In 1848 a group of Cherokee set out on an expedition to California looking for new settlement lands. The expedition followed the Arkansas River upstream to Rocky Mountains in present-day Colorado, then followed the base of mountains northward into present-day Wyoming before turning westward. The route become known as the Cherokee Trail. The group, which undertook gold prospecting in California, returned along the same route the following year, noticing placer gold deposits in tributaries of the South Platte. The discovery went unnoticed for a decade but eventually became one of the primary sources of the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859. Once again the white man over-ran them in their usual greed, to take what they had discovered years before. The White man treated the native Americans like bugs under their feet ! Yet if it had not been for the Native American Indian, none of the first settlers would have ever made it through their first winter here ! To this day, this US Federal Government has never thanked or shown ANY gratitude for all that the Native Americans did and gave to the White man ! Instead, the White man stole their lands, lied, manipulated and FORCED the American Indians to sign treaties that took their Native lands and freedoms and rights away from them ! You have never seen an official "Native American Day" on the calendar yet ! To this day, the Native Americans are treated like garbage and the ever-dictatorial power-hungry US Federal Government has FORCED the Native American Indians of all Tribes to be placed under THEIR 'authority' !! The US Federal Government even did the appointing of Tribal Chiefs, in order to have those they could force into signing treaties to do so easily. NO treaty ever signed with the Native American Indians was ever done of free will ! Just like Lincoln FORCED the Southern states to bow down to him and forced his will on them and FORCED THE STATES TO RE-JOIN HIS FEDERAL UNION, which of course is NOT legal ! NOTHING FORCED OR MANIPULATED IS LEGAL !

IT is CRIMINAL, is what it is ! Something this Federal Government is well known for doing all though history with all nations as well as their own here !

But that seems the only way this Federal Government knows how to do anything ! BY FORCE, THREATS, AND DEATH ! THEY ARE STILL DOING IT TO FORCE THEIR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT AGENDA ON US ALL !!

The Native American Indian Tribes were treated just like the Confederate States of America was treated by the Federal Union Government ! Made into slaves and treated like garbage !

The US Government "gave" the most rockiest, un-productive lands to the Indians for their 'reservations', while stealing all the good fertile lands for themselves ! Mind you, the American Indian OWED ALL THE LAND BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME AND FORCED THEIR WAY INTO THIS LAND, STEALING, AND KILLING THEIR WAY EVERYWHERE THEY WENT ! What a joke ! The US Government was "giving" the American Native what already belonged to THEM ! So you can clearly see how this Union Federal Government operates by nature ! And they also ripped off their own white people the same way by creating UN-Constitutional taxes on the people, to keep them enslaved to them and keep the US Federal Corporate Government rich and in power ! This US Federal 'government' does the same thing to its own people as it does to the Indians - "giving" them "privileges" when those so-called 'privileges' already belong to the people by their Constitutional RIGHTS ! Oh how they love POWER and MANIPULATION ! !

WE grew up seeing cowboy and Indians movies and how the Indians were always depicted as the aggressors and the white man always the innocent victims ! Well Daniel Boone knew different and so did anyone else who actually lived here in those days ! THE WHITE MAN WAS TRESPASSING ON THE INDIANS' LANDS, HOMES, AND STEALING ANYTHING THEY COULD FROM THE INDIANS - NOT TO MENTION ALL THE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS THEY JUST OUT AND OUT KILLED FOR THE HECK OF IT !!! Then you wonder why some Indians went to war over this ???? What would YOU do if you were invaded, robbed, and terrorized like this ?

The White man got a bad reputation really FAST ! AND they deserved it !

The Indians helped us Americans survive when we first came here and that was the thanks we gave back to them ! The white man's 'government' also DELIBERATELY put smallpox and other illnesses into the Tribes to wipe them out ! The famous Indian, Sqanto's tribe was one of them ! The white man tried to get rid of ALL the Indians so they could just steal their lands ! The blood that this US Government has on its hands, that they have never, to this day asked God or the Indians for forgiveness for, STILL HAS TO BE ANSWERED FOR ! That is spilled innocent blood on this soil ! A very bad sin to God ! This US Federal Government has NEVER, EVER asked 'forgiveness' for anything they have done to EVERYONE ! They just mow down anyone that gets in their power-hungry way !

Other Cherokees in western North Carolina served as part of Thomas' Legion, a unit of approximately 1,100 men of both Cherokee and white origin, fighting in the Civil War primarily in Virginia, where their battle record was outstanding. Thomas' Legion was the last Confederate unit to surrender in North Carolina, at Waynesville, North Carolina on May 9, 1865.

The Dawes Act of 1887 broke up the tribal land base. Under the Curtis Act of 1898, Cherokee courts and governmental systems were abolished by the US Federal Government ! Just like that !

THIS is how this US Federal Government operates ! They just barge into a place and take charge, stepping over everyone's rights ! Lincoln did the exact same thing to the Southern States !

I have yet to see ANYTHING *good* about the US Federal Corporate 'government' ! It is nothing more than a Foreign dictatorship with a lust for power like no other ! !

These and other acts were designed to end tribal sovereignty to pave the way for Oklahoma Statehood in 1907 AND Federal control over all the Indians and people everywhere . The Federal government appointed chiefs to the Cherokee Nation, often just long enough to sign a treaty (manipulation and deception as usual). However, the Cherokee Nation recognized it needed leadership and a general convention was convened in 1938 to elect a Chief. They choose J. B. Milam as principal chief, and as a 'goodwill guesture' Franklin Delano Roosevelt confirmed the election in 1941. Now I'd like to know WHY the US FEDERAL Government has to put their 'stamp of approval' on Tribal matters ! The Native Americans were their OWN government, and did not, or should not, have to have any kind of 'approval' from the US Federal Government - putting the US Federal Government in full control - as usual ! Dictatorship seems to run in Federal veins ! Seems to be an inborn trait ! They do it to EVERYONE ! If anything, it should be the American Indians OVER, and in authority over, the US Government, since it was the White man who did all the invading and stealing in this nation that belonged 100% to the Native American ! !

Americans are getting a taste of that now with the southern border invasion of Mexicans and others who are invading what we consider OUR nation and land, and are telling us to go back to Europe ! They want us to leave what we consider our own lands ! This is exactly what WE did to the American Indians !

W. W. Keeler was appointed chief in 1949 but as Federal Government adopts the 'self-determination policy', the Cherokee Nation was able to rebuild its government and W. W. Keeler was elected chief by the people, via a 'Congressional Act' signed by President Nixon. Keeler, who was also the President of Phillips Petroleum was succeeded by Ross Swimmer, Wilma Mankiller, Joe Byrd and Chad Smith who is currently the chief of the Nation.

But do notice how the Federal US Government always has to put THEIR 'STAMP OF APPROVAL' ON ANYTHING the Tribes WANT TO DO ! THIS is THEIR Native land, and yet they are being told what they can and cannot do ! Now what is wrong with this picture !? And then the US Federal Government has the gall to call themselves a 'government of the people and a free society' ??!! FREE for whom ???? The Federal Government has full control over every living thing in the nation ! THAT IS NOT 'FREEDOM' !

This is like the Feds sending one of their guards to stand over everything you do in your own home and that has to give you 'permission' to do ANYTHING in your own home ! [The NAIS system is like this that this US Government is currently putting into motion - so this is no joke ! It's happening ! But they have been doing this to the American Indians all along !]

The United Keetoowah Band took a different track than the Cherokee Nation and received 'federal recognition' after the Indian Re-organization Act of 1934. They are descended from the Old Settlers, or Cherokees that moved west before "The Removal", and the tribe requires a quarter blood quantum for enrollment.

The Modern Cherokee Nation

The Environment

Today the Cherokee Nation is a leader in the environmental protection field. Most American Indians were always protective of the Earth. They respected it, and nurtured it. Since 1992 the Nation has served as the lead for the Inter-Tribal Environmental Council (ITEC). The mission of ITEC is to protect the health of Native Americans, their natural resources, and their environment as it relates to air, land, and water. To accomplish this mission ITEC provides technical support, training and environmental services in a variety of environmental disciplines. Currently, there are thirty-nine (39) ITEC member tribes in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.

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Trail of Tears

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

This monument at the New Echota Historic Site honors Cherokee who died on the Trail of Tears.

The Trail of Tears refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Native American tribe to the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokee. In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nu na hi du na tlo hi lui—"Trail where they Cried."   The Cherokee were not the only Native Americans forced to 'emigrate' (driven out by armed force is more accurate) during this era, and so the phrase "Trail of Tears" is sometimes used to refer to similar events endured by other Indian peoples, especially among the "Five Civilized Tribes." The phrase may have originated as a description of the earlier emigration of the Choctaw nation. See Indian Removal for more details. But since most of the FORCED removal was of the Cherokee tribe and covered almost the entire middle and south east areas, it is usually referred to that tribe. Cherokee from Ohio to Florida were FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR LANDS AND HOMES !

It is worth noting here that up in Wisconsin and Michigan areas those Tribes of other American Indians were also forced and tricked into signing 'treaties' that gave the US Federal Government all their lands there as well - and they were forced into the Dakotas !

The Cherokee Trail of Tears resulted from the enforcement of the Treaty of New Echota, an agreement signed under the provisions of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which exchanged Native American land in the East for dry useless lands west of the Mississippi River, but which was never accepted by the elected tribal leadership or a majority of the Cherokee people.

But that did not stop the Federal US Government from going after what they wanted for themselves by any means possible, even if it meant signing the 'treaties' themselves by appointing an "Indian chief" in order to get their 'treaties signed' ! The whole thing was a set up !   Nevertheless, the treaty was forced-enforced by President Andrew Jackson, who sent Federal troops to round up about 17,000 Cherokee in camps before being sent to the West. Most of the deaths occurred from disease in these camps, but some Indians were just out and out slaughtered if they dared to not comply with Federal orders ! THAT is the way the FEDS do things to this day !  By Force and deception !!  After the initial roundup, the U.S. military played a limited role in the journey itself, with the Cherokee Nation taking over supervision of most of the forced 'emigration'.

Georgia and the Cherokee Nation

The rapidly expanding population of the United States early in the 19th century created tensions with American Indian tribes located within the borders of the various states. While state governments did not want independent Indian enclaves within state boundaries (everywhere was now 'state boundaries'), Indian tribes did not want to relocate or to give up their distinct identities. But the Federal Government did not care what the Indians wanted - the Feds wanted their land !

With the Compact of 1802, the state of Georgia relinquished to the national government its western land claims (which became the states of Alabama and Mississippi). In exchange, the national government 'promised' to eventually conduct 'treaties' to relocate those Indian tribes living within Georgia, thus giving Georgia control of ALL land within its borders. The Indian tribes never agreed to it.

However, the Cherokee, whose ancestral tribal lands overlapped the boundaries of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama, declined to move. They established a capital in 1825 at New Echota (near present-day Calhoun, Georgia). Furthermore, led by principal Chief John Ross and Major Ridge, the speaker of the Cherokee National Council, the Cherokee adopted a written Constitution on 26 July 1827, declaring the Cherokee Nation to be a sovereign and independent nation. The US Federal Government did what is always does, and like Lincoln did with the CSA Constitution and Nation - ignored it as if it did not exist ! if there is one thing this Federal US Government has been - is consistent with its not seeing what it does not WANT to see ! They ignore what they want to until it just vanishes from being not recognized ! The CSA (Confederate States of America) still is a real Sovereign Nation today, but the Federal Union Government to this day refuses to recognize it or even see that it exists ! Out of mind = out of sight = does not exist - - - is their policy !

Gold Rush and Court Cases

Chief John Ross

The US Federal Government sets their sights on the Indian Gold !

If there is ever anything of any value, this Elite US FEDERAL Corporate Government will find a way to get it for themselves ! Whether it's oil in some other nation, or Gold, Silver, or Diamonds in Africa, electrical power plants, coffee, tea, sugar, airlines, or whatever - - if it has any value, this Elitist US Federal Government (leaders) wants it for themselves ! And then you wonder why America is so hated in the world ! Greed and power hungry leaders does not make friends ! And this Elite US Federal Government will cut deals with the devil if it gets them what they want !

Under the guise of 'freedom and democracy' the US Federal Corporation 'Government' invades other nations to conquer them in order to be in control of their governments - and for their wealth ! And they use the blood of our innocent military to do it ! THE ploy they use over these wonderful soldiers by telling them they are fighting for the protecting of their own country (an out and out lie) just to get them to fight to make this US Corporation Government more in control of the world nations ! They make the troops believe that they are fighting for freedom ! FREEDOM ! Now there is the biggest joke of all ! This US Federal Elitist Government has NEVER 'GIVEN' FREEDOM EVEN TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE HERE, MUCH LESS GIVE IT TO OTHER NATIONS THAT THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO TOUCH AND DEMAND THEY RUN THEIR GOVERNMENTS AS THIS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMMANDS THEY DO ! Now keep in mind, this is NOT the way America was founded or established to be ! We were founded an isolationist and separatist nation - NOT the police of the world ! WE were never to meddle in the affairs or wars of other nations ! Our Constitution and Monroe Doctrine makes this very clear !   This policy of "invade and conquer" only really began once the Elites took over this nation and government !  THE ELITE WANT TO RULE THE WORLD and everyone in it !

Unfortunately, greed seems to run in the white man's veins. Gold discovered in Georgia ! That made the Federal Government take notice fast !

These tensions between Georgia and the Cherokee Nation were brought to a crisis by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega, Georgia in 1829, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush, the first gold rush in U.S. history. Hopeful gold speculators began trespassing on Cherokee lands, and pressure began to mount on the Georgia government to fulfill the promises of the Compact of 1802. They did not want the Indians able to claim that gold even if they already were in possession of it on their Tribal lands ! They wanted the Indians gone so they could steal their gold !

When Georgia moved to extend state laws over Cherokee tribal lands in 1830, the matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the Marshall court ruled that the Cherokee were not a sovereign and independent nation (even though they really were !), and therefore refused to hear the case.

See how the Feds do not RECOGNIZE what they do not WANT to !? However, in Worcester v. State of Georgia (1832), the Court ruled that Georgia could not impose laws in Cherokee territory, since only the national government (not state governments) had authority in Indian affairs.

President Andrew Jackson has often been quoted as defying the Supreme Court with the words: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it !" Jackson probably never said this, but he was fully committed to the policy of Indian removal. Jackson had no desire to use the power of the national government to protect the Cherokee from Georgia, since he was already entangled with states' rights issues in what became known as the nullification crisis. With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the U.S. Congress had given Jackson authority to negotiate 'removal treaties' (which means MORE forced signed, or faked signed, treaties), exchanging Indian land in the East for wastelands west of the Mississippi River. Jackson used the dispute with Georgia to put pressure on the Cherokee to sign a removal treaty. The white man just wrote up anything in the name of a 'treaty' they wished, and either forced the Indians to sign it, or created a 'chief' to do the dirty deed ! Nothing would stop them from getting what they wanted ! NONE of the treaties ever signed with the Indian tribes of North America are honest real treaties ! ALL of them were created to steal the lands from the Indians and nothing more ! But they always made it LOOK like the Indians agreed to it !

The very thought that the US Federal Government can just barge in on a native people on THEIR CONTINENT AND JUST TAKE OVER AND RULE OVER THEM LIKE CRUEL MASTERS, IS PREPOSTEROUS ! But that is exactly what happened ! And then they call themselves a FREEDOM  based Government ! THE only 'freedom' ever seen in this Federal gov't is the freedom they give themselves to seize power by force over every living thing in their path and make slaves of everyone under them be they Indian or their own white people ! ! NO one has any 'freedom' except the US Federal Elite Corporate 'Government' ! This is truer today than ever before ! They create laws, treaties, and policies at will, to suit their own purposes and that never benefit anyone else ! All the Federal moves are aimed at taking AWAY freedoms from the people on all levels !

Removal Treaty and Resistance

Major Ridge

With the landslide reelection of Andrew Jackson in 1832, some of the most strident Cherokee opponents of removal began to rethink their positions. Led by Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie, they became known as the "Ridge Party", or the "Treaty Party". The Ridge Party believed that it was in the best interest of the Cherokee to get favorable terms from the U.S. government, before white squatters, state governments, and violence made matters worse. John Ridge began unauthorized talks with the Jackson administration in the late 1820s. Meanwhile, in anticipation of the Cherokee removal, the state of Georgia began holding lotteries in order to divide up the Cherokee tribal lands among white Georgians !! [That is like tearing off the clothes you want from a dying person who is not yet dead ! Or burying a person before they are dead just to get them out of the way because you want what they have !]

However, elected principal Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokee people remained adamantly opposed to removal. Political maneuvering began: Chief Ross canceled the tribal elections in 1832, the Council impeached the Ridges, and a member of the Ridge Party was murdered. The Ridges responded by eventually forming their own council, representing only a fraction of the Cherokee people. This split the Cherokee Nation into two factions: the Western Cherokee, led by Major Ridge; and the Eastern faction, who continued to recognize Chief John Ross as the Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

In 1835, Jackson appointed the Reverend John F. Schermerhorn as a treaty commissioner. The U.S. government proposed to pay the Cherokee Nation 4.5 million dollars (among other considerations) to remove themselves. These terms were rejected in October 1835 by the Cherokee Nation council. There are things more important than the almighty dollar ! Something this Federal Corp Government will never understand ! Chief Ross, attempting to bridge the gap between his administration and the Ridge Party, traveled to Washington with John Ridge to open new negotiations, but they were turned away and told to deal with Schermerhorn - who wanted the Indians gone !

Meanwhile, Schermerhorn organized a meeting with the pro-removal council members at New Echota, Georgia. Only five hundred Cherokee (out of thousands) responded to the summons, and, on December 30, 1835, twenty-one proponents of Cherokee removal, among them Major Ridge and Elias Boudinot, signed or left "X" marks on the Treaty of New Echota. John Ridge and Stand Watie signed the treaty when it was brought to Washington. Chief Ross, as expected, refused, and HE was the only REAL authority over the Cherokee nation. But as usual, the Federal Government didn't let that stop them ! They would just create what they needed !   The signatories were violating a Cherokee Nation law drafted by John Ridge (passed in 1829) which had made it a crime to sign away Cherokee lands, the punishment for which was death. [Funny, this never stopped the US Federal Government from just charging in and seizing Indian lands, slaughtering any of them that tried to stop them ! IT was okay for the Feds to create any law they wished, but they refused to recognize any real laws of another nation ! Yep ! THAT is your wonderful US Federal Government for you ! Aren't you proud ?]

Not a single official of the Cherokee Council signed the document ! This treaty gave up all the Cherokee land east of the Mississippi. This was out and out fraud and land theft by the US Federal Government ! Despite the protests by the Cherokee National Council and principal Chief Ross that the document was a fraud, Congress ratified the treaty anyway on May 23, 1836, by just one vote.   A number of Cherokee (including the Ridge party) left for the West at this time, joining those who had already 'emigrated'.

They were being driven from their lands and homes ! By the end of 1836, more than 6,000 Cherokee had moved to the West. More than 16,000 remained in the South, however; the terms of the treaty gave them two years to leave - or else !

Forced Removal

Map of removal routes

However, many Cherokee, Seminoles, and other Tribes were also physically FORCED out of Florida as well, not shown on the map.

The protests against the Treaty of New Echota continued. In the spring of 1838, Chief Ross presented a petition with more than 15,000 Cherokee signatures, asking Congress to invalidate the (illegal) treaty the Federal Government created. He was trying to get the White man to keep his word for once ! Many white Americans were also outraged by the dubious legality of the treaty and called on the government not to force the Cherokee to move. For example, on April 23, 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a letter to Jackson's successor, President Martin Van Buren, urging him not to inflict "so vast an outrage upon the Cherokee Nation." So even the white man couldn't take the horrors being inflicted upon the American Indians. Yes, it was THAT bad ! That is why it is called the "Trail of Tears".

Nevertheless, as the May 23, 1838 deadline for 'voluntary' removal approached, President Van Buren assigned General Winfield Scott to head the forcible removal operation. He arrived at New Echota on May 17, 1838, in command of about 7,000 soldiers. They began rounding up Cherokee in Georgia on May 26, 1838; ten days later, operations began in Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, and Alabama. About 17,000 Cherokee—along with approximately 2,000 black slaves owned by wealthy Cherokee—were removed at gunpoint from their homes over three weeks and gathered together in 'camps', often with only the clothes on their backs. They were then transferred to departure points at Ross's Landing (Chattanooga, Tennessee) and Gunter's Landing (Guntersville, Alabama) on the Tennessee River, and at the Cherokee Agency on the Hiwassee River (Calhoun, Tennessee). From there, they were sent to the Indian Territory, mostly traveling on foot, or by some combination of horse, wagon, and boat, a distance of around 1,200 miles (1,900 km) along one of the three routes out to the (unsettled) Oklahoma territory. The Indians were treated like criminals, when the Federal agents and troops were the real criminals and thieves ! The Indians were the innocent victims being driven from their homes and lands , and everything they owned was seized by the US Federal Government ! This is what the Feds call "Eminent Domain" ! It's the out and out stealing of land that does not belong to them ! Only DICTATORSHIPS DO THIS ! So you know what that tells us ! AND they are still doing it to the American people now today just like they did it to the American Indians in the past !! THIS IS NOT 'FREEDOM' IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM !

It is terrorism is what it is !

The 'camps' (prisons really) were plagued by dysentery and other illnesses, which led to many deaths. After three groups had been sent on the trail, a group of Cherokee petitioned General Scott for a delay until cooler weather made the journey less hazardous. This was granted; meanwhile Cherokee Chief Ross, finally accepting defeat, managed to have the remainder of the removal turned over to the supervision of the Cherokee Council. Although there were some objections within the U.S. government because of the additional cost, General Scott awarded a contract for removing the remaining 11,000 Cherokee to Chief Ross. The Cherokee-administered marches began on August 28, 1838, and consisted of thirteen groups with an average of 1,000 people in each. Although this arrangement was an improvement for all concerned, disease still took many lives.

The number of people who died as a result of the Trail of Tears has been variously estimated. American doctor and missionary Elizur Butler, who made the journey with one party, estimated 2,000 deaths in the camps and 2,000 on the trail; his total of 4,000 deaths remains the most cited figure. A scholarly demographic study in 1973 estimated 2,000 total deaths; another, in 1984, concluded that a total of 8,000+ people died.

During the journey, it is said that the people would sing "Amazing Grace", using its inspiration to improve morale. The traditional Christian hymn had previously been translated into Cherokee by the missionary Samuel Worcester with Cherokee assistance. The song has since become a sort of anthem for the Cherokee people. The Cherokee has been well known for being Christian.

Aftermath

The Cherokee who were removed initially settled near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The political turmoil resulting from the Treaty of New Echota and the Trail of Tears led to the assassinations of Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot; of the leaders of the Treaty Party, only Stand Watie eluded his assassin. The population of the Cherokee Nation eventually rebounded, and today the Cherokee are the largest American Indian group in the United States.

There were some exceptions to removal. Perhaps 1,000 Cherokee evaded the U.S. soldiers and lived off the land in Georgia and other states. There were many Cherokee and Seminole that escaped the removal in central Florida. Those Cherokee who lived on private, individually owned lands (rather than communally owned tribal land) were not subject to removal. In North Carolina, about 400 Cherokee lived on land in the Great Smoky Mountains owned by a white man named William Holland Thomas (who had been adopted by Cherokee as a boy), and were thus not subject to removal. These North Carolina Cherokee became the Eastern Band Cherokee of today.

The Trail of Tears is generally considered to be one of the most regrettable episodes in American history. To commemorate the event, the U.S. Congress designated the Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail in 1987. (Sure took them long enough!) It stretches for 2,200 miles (3,540 km) across nine states.

In 2004, Senator Sam Brownback (Republican of Kansas) introduced a joint resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 37) to "offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States" for past "ill-conceived policies by the United States Government regarding Indian Tribes." The United States Senate has yet to take action on the measure. WE are not holding our breath ! And nothing is ever mentioned about the out and out slaughter of thousands of Native Americans from the very beginning of the arrival of the white man to this continent !

The Cherokee were the most peaceful of the Tribes. They had enough in numbers to go to war with the thieving white man, but didn't. They kept trying to do things with agreements, however the white man never kept his word on anything , and the trusting honest Cherokee (and other tribes also fell to this deceptive fate) lost everything in the end. This continent where the Cherokee and other tribes lived for over a 1,000 years before the white man came and stole it all from them !

And now, with the Bush plan to give the entire middle America away to Mexico for their Mega Super highway to Canada, the Trail of Tears National trail, will be destroyed ! AND the Cherokee will be forced to move AGAIN ! But to where ? There are no lands left anymore ! There is no place to go !

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America is so over-crowded, there is no more room for anyone anymore ! The natural resources are disappearing, especially good soils and water ! The greedy developers and politicians have destroyed most of our countryside and communities !

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See also:

AMERICA NO MORE

Government Seizing Property and Lands

The CSA

Terrorism At Home

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