Who will sit with me within the sacred circle (families, hell, America)
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The old people came literally to love the soil, and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the earth, and the old people like to remove their moccasins and walked with bare feet on the sacred Earth. Their homes were built upon the earth and their altars were made of earth. The birds that flew in the air came to rest upon the earth, and it was the final abiding place of all things that lived and grew. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing. This is why the old men still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces. For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly. He can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him. One should sit upon mother Earth and feel the heartbeat.osay
We just watched the PBS special on The Trail of Tears. It was very moving and very difficult to watch and comprehend the dishonesty of President Andrew Jackson. He is no different than Hitler.
We just watched the PBS special on The Trail of Tears. It was very moving and very difficult to watch and comprehend the dishonesty of President Andrew Jackson. He is no different than Hitler.
It was difficult to watch.....there is a tremendous amount of emotion there.....and some resentment and anger still exists......no wonder Stand Watie wanted to kill bluecoats......and Tom Starr declared war on America.......
We just watched the PBS special on The Trail of Tears. It was very moving and very difficult to watch and comprehend the dishonesty of President Andrew Jackson. He is no different than Hitler.
brother redbird, I too watched that same program and I must tell you it brought back some very old memories of my great-grandmother, she and members of her family were on that trail and they buried some members along that trail, I remember as a very young child some of the stories that her and my grandfather told me about that trail, it was not a good time and many lives were lost.
It was difficult to watch.....there is a tremendous amount of emotion there.....and some resentment and anger still exists......no wonder Stand Watie wanted to kill bluecoats......and Tom Starr declared war on America.......
I have never been able to watch those types of programs. But since it was PBS, I did manage to watch most of Tecumseh last week. I forced myself to watch the Trail of Tears.
I had never heard the history of it in detail. Only the journey itself. As usual, the warrior spirit rose and my blood thirst called for the deaths of a certain few, most especially Andrew "Jackass" Jackson. A true racist if there ever was one.
I also know there are many many tribes with similar Long Walks. Ours was only from Palo Duro canyon, TX to Fort Sill, OK. But we were forced to live in a cattle stockade with only a partial roof through a winter also.
I know the Pottawatomies were marched from the Great Lakes area to OK, as were the Cheyenne from the northern plains. I would think every tribe that resides here in Oklahoma has a similar story to the Long Walk. As a matter of fact I know most do.
What angered me the most is that the Cherokees put forth the effort to assimilate and were still lied to by the US Govt. I kept saying to Uncle Don, this country was founded on lies and greed. And it will come back on them 7 fold.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ptsum
brother redbird, I too watched that same program and I must tell you it brought back some very old memories of my great-grandmother, she and members of her family were on that trail and they buried some members along that trail, I remember as a very young child some of the stories that her and my grandfather told me about that trail, it was not a good time and many lives were lost.
Yes, you and GP were the primary reasons I watched the program. It is a story only touched on by most accounts. No one knows the details as they were shown in this program. A very good program.
I really liked the way Wes Studi was so fluent in Tsalagi. I did not know N.Scott Momaday was part Cherokee. He is a great writer. And you can really see the influence of the Trail of Tears in Tiger's paintings.
I am glad I watched it now, and I offer tobacco to the four directions for the spirits of our ancestors who paved the way for our survival.
ah-Ho, Dah-kyahee. Aim tain gyet ai gyah!
For my brothers and sisters, my grandfathers and grandmothers and all the little ones, the Cherokee who walked into the spirit world during that time, I offer prayers and blessings to your children's children.
I am glad I watched it now, and I offer tobacco to the four directions for the spirits of our ancestors who paved the way for our survival.
ah-Ho, Dah-kyahee. Aim tain gyet ai gyah!
For my brothers and sisters, my grandfathers and grandmothers and all the little ones, the Cherokee who walked into the spirit world during that time, I offer prayers and blessings to your children's children.
Thank you, and I will join in the offering...........
A wise Cherokee woman once helped me put together a spirit tree.......she had worked with the Lakota for many years...........perhaps I should do another one.........
From the "Education of Little Tree" by Forrest Carter
Quote:
At first the soldiers let them stop to bury their dead; but then, more died–by the hundreds–by the thousands. More than a third of them were to die on the Trail. The soldiers said they could only bury their dead every three days; for the soldiers wished to hurry and be finished with the Cherokee. The soldiers said the wagons would carry the dead, but the Cherokee would not put his dead in the wagons. He carried them. Walking.
The little boy carried his dead baby sister, and slept by her at night on the ground. He lifted her in his arms in the morning, and carried her.
The husband carried his dead wife. The son carried his dead mother, his father. The mother carried her dead baby. They carried them in their arms. And walked. And they did not turn their heads to look at the soldiers, nor to look at the people who lined the sides of the Trail to watch them pass. Some of the people cried. But the Cherokee did not cry. Not on the outside, for the Cherokee would not let them see his soul.
And so they called it the Trail of Tears. Not because the Cherokee cried; for he did not. They called it the Trail of Tears for it sounds romantic and speaks of the sorrow to those who stood by the Trail. A death march is not romantic.
You cannot write poetry about the death-stiffened baby in his mother’s arms, staring at the jolting sky with eyes that will not close, while his mother walks.
You cannot sing songs of the father laying down the burden of his wife’s corpse, to lie by it through the night and to rise and carry it again in the morning–and tell his oldest son to carry the body of his youngest. And do not look....nor speak...nor remember the mountains.
It would not be a beautiful song. And so they call it the Trail of Tears.
Last edited by Goodpasture; 04-28-2009 at 06:32 PM..
I think over again my small adventures, my fears, those small ones that seem so big, for all the vital things I had to get and reach and yet there is only one great thing, the only thing, to live to see the great day that dawns and the light that fills the world.osay
Thank you, effie for posting the beautiful videos.
GP, that excerpt from "Little Tree" was good. I never read that book. I wonder if it is online.
I wonder how those people managed to survive the Trail of Tears and why did they not leave until October thru December? Why were there not more wagons? Many questions, but we honor their passing with our lives and how we live our lives. That will be our legacy.
Our Native People pass on the stories and legends around the fire and the stories and legends endure.
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gone with the bears ....
