While on vacation this summer, my family attended a demonstration of various Indian dances performed by Cherokee Indians. This sparked my interest in learning more about their history, and I came upon this book during our ventures. When it comes to informing one of Cherokee history, ToT does not disappoint! As I grew up in school and learned of the Trail of Tears in history class, I had formed a completely different image than how events truly occurred. I imagined that the Cherokees were all "savage-types" (white men were just as savage to them!) and were driven away not only for their land but for protection against them as well. This book opened my eyes to the real Cherokee tragedy. Here are a few interesting facts I learned.

• 1. The Cherokees tried to accommodate the infiltration of white settlers into their lands by selling off tracks of land here and there. They always hoped that expansion would cease and were promised numerous times that it would. Some of their leaders, particularly Major Ridge and his son John, perceived that America would eventually swallow them up. They began to campaign with their people and with the US government to reach an agreement that would be greatly beneficial for the Cherokees involved in the "Indian removal." They were wise to the ways of the white men! But some of their people resented them for it and thought they were traitors. As a result, after the nation had settled out West, both Major Ridge and his son were assassinated by their own people!
• 2. Cherokees owned slaves! I never knew this one! As the Cherokees adopted white man's ways, they moved into an agricultural based society with plantations of fruit trees and other crops. They purchased black slaves from the markets right along side white purchasers. Many slaves were taken West on the Trail of Tears, and many died along the way with the Indians. Some Cherokee even fought with the South in the Civil War.
• 3. Cherokees prospered and adopted much of the white man's culture. The Indians did this in order to appease the white man, but this plan, of course, failed. In a striking speech by John Ridge, he details this transformation. He said, "You asked us to throw off the hunter and the warrior state: We did so-you asked us to form a republican government: We did so-adopting your own as a model. You asked us to cultivate the earth, and learn the mechanic arts: We did so. You asked us to learn to read: We did so. You asked us to cast away our idols and worship your God: We did so." (p. 254) I was surprised to see the photos in this book where the Indians dressed and looked like their white neighbors. Intermarriage was common as well. The Cherokees conformed to the life of Americans in many ways. Sadly, as John would learn, cultural adaption could not satisfy the white man's appetite for land.
• 4. The Cherokees were heavily involved politically. Envoys were constantly present in Washington meeting with the President and others to appeal for Indian rights and proper payment for Indian property.
• 5. The differing forms of missionary activity were particularly interesting given that this is a secular account of Cherokee history. Moravians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists all sent missionaries to educate and evangelize the Cherokees. Some of the missionaries stood for Indian rights and against displacement. As a result, many were cut loose from their sending boards! Others tried to help the Indians make as peaceful a transition as possible understanding that their countrymen would not give up until the Indians were gone! In the end, the full-blood Cherokees "viewed all Christianity, all denominations, as the white man's religion." (p. 299) The Gospel made inroads into this nation, but was greatly hindered by people who professed a loving Savior and acted so hatefully toward other humans. General Winfield Scott, who was in charge of the displacement, commented on the horrible manner in which the "Christians" dealt with the Indians!
• 6. The Trail of Tears, or "The Trail Where We Cried" as the Indians called it, was far more wretched than I ever imagined. 13 separate groups made the trek westward and some 4,000 died along the way. Disease, sickness, drought, lack of food, and broken hearts took its toll on the weak, young, and old. Shallow graves marked the "Trail" that would take one group 189 days to traverse. Maybe the reason this tragedy is so glossed in our history books is because it is too horrible to confront, but it should be!

One of the great quotes was from Major Ridge when signing the treaty to enact removal. He knew he was signing his death warrant, and he argued "an intelligent minority has a moral right and duty to save a blind and ignorant majority from inevitable ruin." (p. 295)

Now I am not arguing that the Cherokees were a completely wonderful and innocent people. But this was their home first!