Journal Entry of a Native American

Journal Entry of a Native American
The Cherokee tribes are of a proud heritage that consists of many beautiful cultural traditions. We have found that the earliest contact from European explorers was in the 16th century. We were identified than as being socially and culturally advanced within the Native American tribes. The Cherokee tribes prospered for hundreds of years in the southeastern area of the United States before our first initial contact with Europeans. The Cherokee society and culture grew in developing, progressing, and embracing all of the better cultural aspects the Europeans brought with them. We had formed a government and society that equaled that of the most civilized cultures of the day.

Unfortunately, when gold was discovered in 1830, in Georgia, outsiders began began a campaign called the period of “Indian removals”. It began from the orders of the U.S. Supreme Court (“[Justice] John Marshall has made his decision; let him enforce it now if he can.” – Andrew Jackson). Men, women, and children from our tribe and many others, were rounded up for the “removal” from our homes and our property by the orders from the President. We had become a subordinate racial group. Because our cultures were not the same, and obvious physical differences, we were treated as someone less deserving of what we had, therefore it was just taken from us. (Cherokee Nation - The Official Site of the Cherokee Nation, n.d., p. 1)

We were all herded by bayonet point into a forced march that lasted for 1,000 miles and ended at a place called the “Indian Territory”, which is now the state of Oklahoma. We lost many of our people to death during the time in the internment camps and once we arrived we lost even more from the journey’s effects.

After recovering from the long trip, we soon re-established ourselves in our new