Trail Of Tears Essay, Research Paper
On September 15, 1830, at Little Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Chiefs of the Choctaw Nation and representatives of the U.S. met to discourse the impact of a measure late passed by the Congress of the U.S. This measure, with all the same good purposes of those today who believe they know better than we how to carry on our lives, allowed for the remotion of all Indian peoples to the West of the Mississippi River. It had been made clear to the Choctaw, that the White persons in Washington cared small for our state of affairs, that either we volitionally moved, or by military force we would be moved. We were non nescient barbarians, but hardworking husbandmans, merchandisers, and business communities of all types. We were educated people, many were Christians. We had an organized system of authorities and a statute organic structure of jurisprudence. Some of these people were non even Indians, many aliens and orphans had been taken in over the old ages. The Chiefs and Warriors signed the pact, recognizing they had no option. For making this the authorities functionaries guaranteed, in the organic structure of the pact, safe conveyance to our new places. ( Do non bury for a minute that in this pact, the Choctaw traded 10.3 million estates of land E of the Mississippi for 10.3 estates in Oklahoma and Arkansas that we already owned under old pacts ) Further, it included commissariats and pecuniary rentes, to help the people to do a new start. One half of the people were to go about instantly, the remainder the following twelvemonth. After the sign language of the pact, many saw their land and belongings sold before their ain eyes. The & # 8220 ; conveyances & # 8221 ; promised turn out to be a forced March. At the point of a gun, the gait killed many of the old, exposure and bad nutrient killed most. Rotten beef and veggies are hapless commissariats, even for the idle. Many walked the full distance without places, hardly clothed. What supplies were given had been rejected by the Whites. This can non straight blamed on the authorities, about all of this was done by unscrupulous work forces, interested merely in maximising their net incomes. They authorities & # 8217 ; s mistake prevarications in non being alert of those taken into their charge. Many of the old and the kids died on the route. At each allowed halt, the dead were buried. Hearing of this many escaped. They knew that as they signed the axial rotations, to be & # 8220 ; removed & # 8221 ; , that this might every bit good be their decease warrants. They took safety in the hills, the swamps, and other topographic points excessively inhospitable for the Whites. Even as this occurred, those in charge reported their & # 8220 ; peaceable advancement & # 8221 ; to Congress, who looked no farther. Those of us who evaded the axial rotations were accepted by neither the Whites nor the & # 8220 ; papered & # 8221 ; Indians. Still others claimed to be & # 8220 ; Black Dutch, & # 8221 ; Spanish, Creole, or Black. ( M
y own grandfather later lied to the census taker, saying he was one sixty-fourth. At that degree, he could still live and own land on the reservation. He was “enrolled” at that number. Granny claimed to be Black Dutch). Many others fled to Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana, even into the swamps of the Okeefenokee. The “fertile lands, alive with game, lush with forests” turned out to be bone-dry and covered in alkalai pits, and a strange black ooze that stank and caught fire easily. Blistering hot in the summer, freezing in the winter, this land was still their own. And then the whites decided they needed more land. Again, pressure was brought to bear on the Choctaw. By this time the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Cree, Kickapoo, Seminole, Wyandotte, Lenapi, Mohawk, and others whose names you would not recognize, had their reservations shrunk around them. The Choctaw had only been the first to be removed, the government drunk with power and in fit of lust for land, had removed nearly all. The Mississippi Band of the Choctaw had temporarily avoided displacement, but had their land stripped down to 500 acres, but within five years none of that land was in Indian hands. Already Arkansas had begun to be settled by whites, who ignored the treaties. Even those who fled to California were being displaced by miners, farmers and ranchers. The discovery of gold galvanized the vise forming around the Indian people, so that expansion from the East was equaled by expansion from the West. The altruistic government, in love and charity removed many of the young to “boarding schools” where they were “civilized,” which meant being given white names, speaking only English, and being forbidden to worship their “pagan” gods. To this day most Indians, even full-bloods, are not fluent in their own mother-tongues. The final blow came when the white decided he needed the black ooze and again the process accelerated. By that time, Custer, making illegal sorties into the Black Hills, had discovered gold there too. The Lakota watched their lands, cut to almost a third and then again until nearly all was gone. In the 1880’s, came Wovoka, who offered a message of hope and peace. With him he brought the Ghost Dance and all tribes listened to that Siren song. At the peak of this frenzy came Wounded Knee. There, unarmed and innocent men, women, and children were murdered by scared Cavalry, who never took the time to find out what this was all about. Adding insult to injury, Medals of Honor were given to these men. Every white child knew, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” Even now, when the tribes speak of sovereignty, men like Senator Gorton wonder why. All we ever asked for was the dignity of free men, to live at peace, and worship God in our own ways.
