Cherokee Indian Nation example essay topic

Barbara Huston History 17 A Mrs. Sanchez September 05, 2005 Way The Cherokee have live through good time and some bad time The American Indian History of the United States is always associated with the Cherokee Indian nation. The Cherokee's were by far the largest and most advanced of the tribes. This man was Hernando de Soto was the first European explorer to come into contact with the Cherokees, when he arrived in their territory in 1540. Then he went and came in contact with Native Americans Cherokee's since many of their ways and customs is my family that the Cherokees occupied a large expanse of territory in the Southeast.

Their homeland included mountains and valleys in the southern part of the Appalachian Mountain chain. Their territory stretched from North Carolina to Virginia to Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma... The name the Cherokee's had for them was Ani-yu-wi ya which has means, real people. Villages were along rivers and streams so they have better advantage of the rich black soil for farming as if the corn was their was the sources. In Hunting and fishing they use this weapon for different ways like spears, traps, and fishing lines with hooks to catch many different kinds of fish. They also used an interesting method of poisoning an area of water to kill the fish and gather them up as they floated to the surface.

The Cherokees were also skilled hunters. They hunted large animals, such as deer and bear, with bows and arrows. They covered themselves in entire deerskin's, antlers and all, and used deer calls to lure the animals to them. The products of their hunts were not only used for food, but for clothing as well. They dressed in buckskin shirts and skirts, made moccasins, capes and other items using their animal resources. Cherokee families usually had two houses- a large summer home and a smaller winter home.

The Cherokees practiced a variety of crafts, including basketwork and stamped pottery, carved, out from woods. These masks were used during their many hunting, agricultural and healing rituals. They held these ceremonies Festivals of the Cherokees. The Indians believed the earth was created at that season, and their year began at that time.

The six main festivals held by the Chief each year were the first New Moon of spring, then when the new Green Corn Festival, when the leaves began to turn yellow and fall. It was held in honor of the Great New Moon (Nuwtiegwa), friendship and brotherhood and 'Bouncing Bush' Festival. Messengers were sent through the nation to notify the people of the Festivals. Although there was some variation in the number of days of a Festival, they were always completed within seven days of the dances and the eating Prayers were said that God might bless the corn and meat during the year and make the people healthful.

The preliminary Green Corn Feast was held in August and the main Corn Feast was held in the middle or latter part of September, when the corn was ripe. It was believed that at this festival each person might look into a crystal to see if he would live through the next year. If they could see themselves erect as they looked into the stone, it was believed they would live, but if they appeared to be lying down, they would die before the first spring moon. Those who were to die fasted all day and then had the priest consult the crystal again.

If on the second trial he appeared standing erect, he was ordered to the river and bathed several times and he would be safe. Beliefs of the Cherokees. The White Chief or Most Beloved Man helped the villagers make decisions concerning farming, lawmaking, and disputes between individuals, families, or clans. He also played a large role in religious ceremonies.

The Red Chief gave advice concerning warfare. One such decision was choosing who would be the War Woman, an honored woman is chosen to accompany braves on their war parties. The War Woman did not fight, but helped feed the men, offered them council, and decided which prisoners would live or die. 1738 - Smallpox eradicates 25% of the Cherokee Nation, one of the tribe member getting the chicken pox then it spread out to whole tribe. 1753 - Smallpox epidemic 1820's During his tenure as chief he opposed displacement of the tribe from its native lands, a policy of the United States government known as Indian Removal. However, Ross's political rival Major Ridge signed an unauthorized removal treaty with the U.S. in 1836.

Ross unsuccessfully lobbied against enforcement of the treaty, but those Cherokees who did not emigrate to the 'Indian Territory' by 1838 were forced to do so by General Winfield Scott, an episode that came to be known as the Trail of Tears... Accepting defeat, Ross convinced General Scott to have supervision of much of the removal process turned over to Ross. n the Indian Territory, Ross helped draft a constitution for the entire Cherokee nation and in 1839 I was chosen as chief of the nation. He would remain chief until his death... "In 1770 Thomas Jefferson's income as a lawyer is figured to have been three thousand dollars, and his income as a planter using his 5,000-acre estate about two thousand. These figures up to establish a comparison of monetary value between today and 1770: was in a ratio of thirty to one". (1) In fact, a Cherokee chief named Junaluska personally saved the life of President Andrew Jackson.

In 1820, they established a republican form of government and founded the Cherokee Nation under a constitution, with an elected principal chief, a senate and a house of representatives. web man was name Sequoyah who developed a way of writing in their own language so the Cherokee, that could keep record and documents to prove their government. But his only person in history to single handed ly invent an entire alphabet... When gold was discovered near Dahlonega, Georgia, the whites called for the relocation of the Cherokee. In 1830, when President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act despite having had his own life saved by these Indians. This relocation is known as the 'Trail of Tears,' and is the subject of much discussion and debate. Over 1/4th of the entire Cherokee population died out during this relocation".

Trail of Tears' was not the only injustice enacted upon them. Some of them were relocation was supposed to be a permanent homeland for various tribes. Therefore in 1889, two million acres had been bought from the Indians at ridiculously low prices. The Oklahoma land run took place that year, with settlers lining. These lifestyles, major events and other minor ones became the source and reason behind the stories told by Indians. Many stories and poems reflected happenings in their lives and feelings they had.

Indian literature allows us to see how we feel what the Indians had to go through. literature they had be passed on orally, this the part you lose so much meaning and feeling when reading something rather than having it told to you out loud. John Elle "TRAIL OF TEARS", THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CHEROKEE NATION " "In 1770 Thomas Jefferson's income as a lawyer is figured to have been three thousand dollars, and his income as a planter using his 5,000-acre estate about two thousand. (1) In the book "NOTE " Cherokee Rose that follow of story Cherokee women The men on the Trail of Tears ask the Great One in Galunlati (heaven) to help keep their women from becoming too weak from crying. The white roses grew quickly where their tears fell, with thorns, seven leaflets representing the seven Cherokee clans, and gold in the center like the gold the white men sought in Cherokee country. The growth of the strong plants reclaimed some of the land the people had lost and the women thought of the strength they had to bring up their children in a new Cherokee Nation.

' Cherokee Rose" was something I have heard of my great-great grandfather was full Cherokee from Oklahoma. I have heard stories about the rose of them losing their homeland and leaving their tear on their homeland of dropping the pedal off and the center being the gold that was homeland they can remember. Of one the ladies that lived out here in Lemoore, from the Santa Ranches Rosa, was one of my great aunt of telling me thing of how she had to come out here with her grandma from Oklahoma. She has past away, but this is things she would tell me about how they had to walked out here to California on long trail, you would read the book of "Trail of Tears" and this when our new nation start at of taking this long walk out to the west. thing have been back on the story of Samuel Cloud of his great-great-grandfather, had lived and be treated. Yes I know did not corrected any these errors because these error is copy off the internet that remind me of thing I have heard from my Granny and great aunt. (3) "Samuel Cloud was only 9 years old during the Trail of Tears.

His great-great grandson, Michael Rutledge, reported his experiences in Forgiveness in the Age of Forgetfulness) the leaves are on the trees. I am playing with my friends when white men in uniforms ride up to our home. My mother calls me. I can tell by her voice that something is wrong. Some of the men ride off. My mother tells me to gather my things, but the men don't allow us time to get anything.

They enter our home and begin knocking over pottery and looking into everything. My mother and I are taken by several men to where their horses are and are held there at gun point. The men who rode off return with my I can feel his anger and frustration. There is nothing he can do.

From my mother I feel fear. I am filled with fear, too. What is going on? I was just playing, but now my family and my friends' families are gathered together and told to walk at the point of a bayonet. We walk a long ways. My mother does not let me get far from her.

My father is walking by the other men, talking in low, angry tones. The soldiers look weary, as though they'd rather be anywhere else but here. They lead us to a stockade. They herd us into this pen as if we are cattle. No one was given time to gather any possessions. The nights are still cold in the mountains and we do not have enough blankets to go around.

My mother holds me at night to keep me warm. That is the only time I feel safe. I feel her pull me to her tightly. I feel her warm breath in my hair. I feel her softness as I fall asleep at night. As the days pass, more and more of our people are herded into the stockade.

I see other members of my clan. We children try to play, but the elders around us are anxious and we do not know what to think. I often sit and watch the others around me. I observe the guards. I try not to think about my hunger. I am cold.

Several months have passed and still we are in the stockades. My father looks tired. He talks with the other men, but no one seems to know what to do or what is going to happen. We hear that white men have moved into our homes and are farming our fields.

What will happen to us? We are to march west to join the Western Cherokees. I don't want to leave these mountains. My mother, my aunts and uncles take me aside one day. 'Your father died last night,' they tell me.

My mother and my father's clan members are crying, but I do not understand what this means. I saw him yesterday. He was sick, but still alive. It doesn't seem real. Nothing seems real. I don't know what any of this means.

It seems like yesterday, I was playing with my friends. It is now Fall. It seems like forever since I was clean. The stockade is nothing but mud.

In the morning it is stiff with frost. By mid-afternoon, it is soft and we are all covered in it. The soldiers suddenly tell us we are to follow them. We are led out of the stockade. The guards all have guns and are watching us closely. We walk.

My mother keeps me close to her. I am allowed to walk with my uncle or an aunt, occasionally. We walk across the frozen earth. Nothing seems right anymore. The cold seeps through my clothes. I wish I had my blanket.

I remember last winter I had a blanket, when I was warm. I don't feel like I'll ever be warm again. I remember my father's smile. It seems like so long ago.

We walked for many days. I don't know how long it has been since we left our home, but the mountains are behind us. Each day, we start walking a little later. They bury the dead in shallow graves, because the ground is frozen. As we walk past white towns, the whites come out to watch us pass. No words are spoken to them.

No words are said to us. Still, I wish they would stop staring. I wish it were them walking in this misery and I were watching them. It is because of them that we are walking. I don't understand why, but I know that much. They made us leave our homes.

They made us walk to this new place we are heading in the middle of winter. I do not like these people. We come to a big river, bigger than I have ever seen before. It is flowing with ice.

The soldiers are not happy. We set up camp and wait. We are all cold and the snow and ice seem to hound us, claiming our people one by one. North is the color of blue, defeat and trouble. From there a chill wind blows for us as we wait by a frozen river. We wait to die.

My mother is coughing now. She looks worn. Her hands and face are burning hot. My aunts and uncles try to take care of me, so she can get better. I don't want to leave her alone. I just want to sit with her.

I want her to stroke my hair, like she used to do. My aunts try to get me to sleep by them, but at night, I creep to her side. She coughs and it wracks her whole body. When she feels me by her side, she opens her blanket and lets me in.

I nestle against her feverish body. I can make it another day, I know, because she is here. When I went to sleep last night, my mother was hot and coughing worse than usual. When I woke up, she was cold.

I tried to wake her up, but she lay there. The soft warmth she once was, she is no more. I kept touching her, as hot tears stream down my face. She couldn't leave me.

She wouldn't leave me. I hear myself call her name, softly, then louder. She does not answer. My aunt and uncle come over to me to see what is wrong. My aunt looks at my mother. My uncle pulls me from her.

My aunt begins to wail. I will never forget that wail. I did not understand when my father died. My mother's death I do not understand, but I suddenly know that I am alone. My clan will take care of me, but I will be forever denied her warmth, the soft fingers in my hair, her gentle breath as we slept. I am alone.

I want to cry. I want to scream in rage. I can do nothing. We bury her in a shallow grave by the road. I will never forget that lonesome hill of stone that is her final bed, as it fades from my sight. I tread softly by my uncle, my hand in his.

I walk with my head turned, watching that small hill as it fades from my sight. The soldiers make us continue walking. My uncle talks to me, trying to comfort me. I walk in loneliness. I know what it is to hate.

I hate those white soldiers who took us from our home. I hate the soldiers who make us keep walking through the snow and ice toward this new home that none of us ever wanted. I hate the people who killed my father and mother. I hate the white people who lined the roads in their woolen clothes that kept them warm, watching us pass.

None of those white people are here to say they are sorry that I am alone. None of them care about me or my people. All they ever saw was the color of our skin. All I see is the color of theirs and I hate them " CITES web "Trail of Tear "and then look for Samuel Cloud 9 years old (go down to #3) web G. Forgiveness in the Age of Forgetfulness. Samuel Cloud turned 9 years old on the Trail of Tears. Samuel's Memory is told by his great-great grandson, Michael Rutledge, in his paper "Cherokee Rose" was something I have heard of my great-great -grandma and was past down to her mom and down the family and I am one that know some of it to and one my great-aunt that came out here grandma.

That was my great-great-grandma Person I talk about was my great-aunt Ilene Soto she just past away she was only 90 years old, and she was a teacher. web web on young boy of the trail of tears.