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The Trail Of Tears

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Historically, the United States of America and Native American Nations was full of tumultuous occurrences of ecocide, ethnocide and genocide. One of the most prevalent situations of their interactions was the Trail of Tears, which resulted in lasting effects on the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations. It was an act of genocide against the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations by the United States of America. Today, these Nations still feel the impact of this atrocious event and continue to tell stories of the horrific experiences that their people endured. The event stemmed out of the white settler expansion into the South during the early 19th century. White settlers wanted to acquire high yield land from Native American Nations for growing cotton. Native American people were standing in the way of progress for white settlers and the United States did not uphold their agreement with these nations. Thus these communities were forcefully removed to a distant and foreign land that resulted in the death of many of their …show more content…
One of the lasting effects was the shear dwindling of the population of these people and their displacement. They had lost their homeland and were now living on small reservations, while some still had diseases and other injuries from the long trek. The Cherokee people called the Trail of Tears “Nu na da ul tsun yi” meaning, “The place where they cried”. Their interpretation of the name helps show how those who did survive never forgot the brutality and toll of the journey. Another lasting impact from this devastating journey was the mark it left on the people; it left the Indigenous people with a lack of education. And with the lack of education the Indigenous people soon turned towards alcohol, drugs, suicide, abuse, and other bad choices. The Trail of Tears left a generation of Indigenous people who were hopeless and completely crushed because of what they were forced to

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