1838
I knew he was coming for me. He had taken all the other tribes out, now it was out turn. We have been fighting them off for years, and we are tired. We will not ever give up to that American. We will fight the whole way there, it is who we are. I will stay strong for the Cherokee people, but I am scared. America scares me. I have seen the darker side of him, and he scares me. The American president, Andrew Jackson, signed off the Indian Removal Act in 1830. That means that I cannot live here. They are kicking me out bacause I am an "Indian". They are greedy pigs. I will never forgive America.
They came right to the village. They told us that we have 5 days to pack our things. There is nothing we can do about it. They say they will escort us there, but I know they mean they will drag us kicking and screaming. What can I do? We have had no say in this! America complained about getting no say in what happened to him, what about me? Am I not equal to him? This is unfair!
I do not think I will ever be the same. The two thousand mile journey was Hell. We started in the state of Tennessee. We started in winter, and none of us could afford good clothes or any shoes. A hospital gave us blankets, but they were infected with small pox and many got sick and died. Because of our sickness, they did not let us stop in any towns on the way. They would even make us walk miles more just to go around any villages.
We arrived in Illinoise in December, and it was the coldest winter I had ever experienced. We had to take a ferry to cross the river. The man charged us a dollar a head ($21.83 today). I found later that the actual price to cross the river was 12 cents ($2.62 today).
The man would not let us cross until every white man had crossed. We waited for a long time, waiting until the man had "nothing better to do." We waited under Mantle Rock. Many of the locals murdered my people while we waited for no reason. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, and I began crying the rest of the way along with my people.
We arrived in the Indian Territory. I have scars on my feet to remind me of this journey. Of the 15,000 people that came, 4,000 of them died. 13,000 others were sent to concentration camps. We decided to call this event "nu na da ul tsun yi." In English, this means "the place where they cried." We have left a trail, and I hope America sees the trail of tears that my people and I have set before him. God help us.
"I fought through the War Between the States and have seen many men shot, but the Cherokee Removal was the cruelest work I ever knew." -A Georgia Soldier
This cahpter is, obviosuly, about the Trail of Tears and the forced removal of the Cherokees into Indiand Territory - present day Oklahoma.
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