While Christopher Columbus has been credited with the discovery of America in many United States grammar school lessons, Native Americans inhabited the land first. Unfortunately, Native Americans were displaced from their homeland when Europeans settled into America.
In the early 19th century, many Native American tribes, such as the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles were living in America. These tribes ended up signing more than 40 treaties that gave up their land to the European settlers. The Indian Removal Act was officially enforced in 1830, which meant that all Native American Tribes still in the eastern part of the United States had to march west of the Mississippi.
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"The Trail of Tears".
While many Native Americans, including the Cherokee Tribe, has been against signing treaties, a small number of Cherokees felt that their only chance of survival was to sign the treaty. The White Man took advantage of this situation, getting about 20 Cherokee Indians to sign the Treaty of Echota, which resulted in a $5 million dollar reward and promise of homeland for Native Americans. For the next twenty years, remaining Native Americans were forced to sign treaties, relinquishing their land. Native Americans who did not want to relocate were beaten and treated harshly. Many of them did not have enough time to even pack all of their treasured possessions.
This rough journey became known as the Trail of Tears, a sad time of grief where Native Americans had to move themselves westward of about 800 miles. Not all Native Americans left at once, some remaining in camps (similar to the Jewish people) before they made their westward trek. Unfortunately, about 3,500 Native Americans ended up dying in Alabama. Many Native Americans that were physically forced out of the eastern portion of America were not treated fairly or gently, many families broken apart during the Trail of Tears journey. Older and sick individuals who were not up to the task of marching miles westward were forced to walk on anyway, American military and militia pointing a gun in their faces and ordering them to move.
Native Americans attempted to travel westward by railroad, boat, and wagon. However, the water was not able to be traveled. Many Native Americans did not make it, falling to illness and drought. Unfortunately, dirty conditions, overcrowding, and lack of water also made travel difficult for people, many people dying from the harsh, insurmountable conditions.
In the winter, the rest of traveling Native Americans had to deal with worse conditions, such as heavy rains and mud that made the roads treacherous and impassable, as well as lack of food. The lack of empathy from White Americans was appalling and heartless, European settlers taking land that did not rightfully belong to them. In the month of January, many Cherokee Indians had to overcome even more challenges and vacate their land, about 66 percent of them stuck between the ice covered Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in January. This was a predicament that many of them could not get past, many in the Cherokee tribe dying from illness and disease, some sickened by stagnant water. Many children, babies, and older people, approximately 4,000 passed away on the Trail of Tears.
However, in spite of all the heartache, there was one bright spot in some resilient Cherokee Indians. Close to 1,000 of these Indians were able to dodge the White Man, eventually establishing roots in Tennessee and North Carolina. Creating their own tribal government in 1868, the Cherokee stood their ground and made a name for themselves, becoming known as the Eastern band of Cherokee Indians.
