President Jackson and his administration used unethical methods, while dealing with Indians. About 500 Cherokee Indians, who were not the chiefs nor had they any actual power signed the treaty, which sold all of their lands for just five million dollars plus an entitlement of seven million acres out west, for the entire Cherokee nation. When a petition was quickly organized among the Cherokees, 16,000 Indians gave they signature against the treaty. President Jackson just ignored it, because the voices of those 500 were more suitable to him, than the cries of those 16,000.

            In essence, President Jackson did everything to remove the Indians and used both unethical and undemocratical ways to achieve that goal. A treaty, which was signed with the Creeks was broken, the government did nothing to protect them from white settlers, who cheated the Creeks of their land. And because the Creeks were forced to steal, Secretary of War ordered the removal of the Creeks as a military requirement. Similar situation was with the Chickasaws. The tribe signed a treaty, that would protect them until they moved, but the War Department backed down on its promise. US government didn’t hold their end of the deal, but expected the Indians to do so.

We all know about the current removal of the Cherokee nation. I don’t know how far they have reached, but seeing them leave, I was left astonished. The tribe, about 16,000 people, moved barefoot, including children and elders. They were basically robbed of their land and now, they are forced to travel hundreds of miles in inhumane conditions.

And now, seven years after signing the Indian removal act, President Jackson and his administration has removed 46,000 Native American people from their land east of the Mississippi. About 25 million acres of Indian land is now populated by cotton growers and other white settlers, who light heartedly cultivate the land, without knowing what heartbreak it had caused for numerous Indian tribes.

Image by Todd Ryburn via Flickr

For this reason I have always loved the wisdom of native American people insofar as they have spent centuries pulling profound truths out of their natural surroundings.  They look at nature and see correlations to their own circumstances, and life values.  It’s a profound pity that in our busy, technology crazed world, we fail to see such wisdom, and too often don’t really care.  We solve our problems with the click of a button, or soft touch on an iPad. 

Just the other day I was battling with my own two wolves, and for a moment the bad wolf was winning.  I found myself being consumed by negative thoughts, and feelings of bitter anger over a situation within which I found myself.  The story of the two wolves came to mind as I closed my eyes and imagined confronting the bad wolf inside me, letting it know that I was not going to feed it anymore.  I visualized this creature foaming at the mouth, and positioning itself to attack me, yet the more I screamed at it, and removed it’s source of food, it seemed to grow weak and timid.  I then imagined hand-feeding the good wolf who was peacefully devouring the morsel I held out to it.  I experienced a profound sense of peace inside me as I saw the bad wolf whimpering, and growing weaker.

Years ago I would have laughed at the idea of such imagery, mostly due to a strain of closed mindedness that I have carried with me throughout life.  I have since come to realize that the power of the mind is fully capable of assisting us in changing our lives, and as the biologist Bruce Lipton has pointed out in his brilliant book, The Biology of Belief, we can literally change our lives by merely changing our beliefs, and attitudes.  a big part of this is learning not to feed the bad wolf inside of us.

There is a great value, I believe, in visualizing our positive and negative traits in this manner, in that we can vividly attach what ails us to something concrete, not in a physical, substantive way, but nonetheless in an effective use of our “real” imaginations. 

Other examples I have heard, regarding the use if imagery, involves imagining a big red stop sign popping up in your mind as a way of stopping you from lying, or saying something inappropriate, or perhaps acting out in an inappropriate manner.  Again, the mind is a powerful tool to help us develop into better people, and to allow our better angels to reign supreme in our lives.

I believe this is also a gift from God, the giver of life, and all that is good and decent.  He created our minds, and expects us to use them in ways that not only bring glory to Him, but to enable us to live positive, and productive lives.  There are a couple of New Testament verses that come to mind regarding the positive use of the mind.  Philippians 4:8,  “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  The admonition here is to fill the mind with goodness, and virtuous thoughts, and this is something that is impossible to do if we continue to feed the bad wolf.  Another verse is found in James 1:8, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  How can any of us live consistent lives when we attempt to feed both wolves?  

Facts: Samuel Worcester was a resident of the state of Vermont sent to The Cherokee Nation as a missionary. Yet the state of Georgia does not permit U.S citizens to enter The Cherokee Nation unless they receive a passport from the governor. Worcester argued that this Georgia law broke Indian sovereignty treaties, which are held at a federal level. Worcester was convicted by the state of Georgia and sentence to four years hard labor at a penitentiary.

Issue: Wether the act of legislature of Georgia, under which the plaintiff in error has been prosecuted and condemned, be consistent with, or repugnant to, the constitution, laws and treaties of the United States.

Held: No.

Rationale: The court ruled that only the United States had the authority to make treaties and regulations with Native Americans. Georgia has absolutely no authority in the matter, the plaintiff was on tribal land. All treaties offer a federal jurisdiction. However, treaties made with The Cherokee Nation promise “the benefit and comfort” and “prevention of injuries and oppression” of these Indians, yet the United States still has control over their trading regulations and regulation of all affairs. Therefore the treaty is hypocritical considering that the articles state that The Cherokee are capable of governing themselves, and may ascertain boundaries between themselves and the United States. Thus the treaty has been renewed several times, and specific pledges have been added. Such as allowing The Cherokee Nation to punish citizens whom are unlawfully in their land. The United States has also pledged to recognize Indian Nations as distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries. States only have jurisdiction over Native lands if they are being invaded.

Five hundred years ago, Native American tribes lost 1,854,000,000 acres of ancestral land to white settlers and their expansion. A few gave up their land in unfair trades but many were forced off their land by American explorers, settlers and military men. In the 1960’s Native American activism began to emerge nationwide along with the rest of the civil rights movement. Now that Native Americans have finally had their chance to speak freely about their hardships, American citizens are looking for the truth about why Native American health, education and economic averages are below national standards in many Native American reservations. They are lacking basic healthcare even as the rest of the nation worries about their pre-existing coverage changing. Education is not any better. Many Native American teenagers drop out of high school due to the fact that their employment options are few. Therefore, the reservations’ economies have been failing, diving farther into economic problems than those of the nation they live in. The United States’ government is not providing Native Americans the three basic rights of an American citizen: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

            One might think that Native Americans should simply leave their reservations to get proper healthcare, education and careers. However, it is not this simple. To a Native American, their reservation is not simply territory. It is their home, and every neighbor is a part of a larger family they call their tribe. Reservations are more closely knit than most people would know. Many Native Americans would rather not leave their reservation due to the fact that they usually do not have friends outside the reservation. Also, their traditions and cultures tend to make “outsiders” think badly of them, so many Native Americans would rather not leave the reservation even for serious health reasons. Therefore, healthcare is provided within, although it is most often, not the greatest. Native children were taken off of reservations to be “whitewashed” in schools such as the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is known that some brave high school graduates have tried to leave reservations to study in universities but have returned before graduation due to the fact that life outside their reservation, away from their tribe, is difficult. These are only a few reasons as to why a Native American would not want to leave his or her reservation. Ben Nighthorse Campbell wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times; part of his letter stated: “ At the time of Columbus’ arrival in the New World, Native Americans had advanced cultures with strong family structures, devout religious beliefs, representative and elective governments, respect for elders, sophisticated medicine and an ecologically sound way of life.” For those who complain about how Native Americans would be better off if reservations did not exist: reservations are a way of keeping tribes together and keeping the old ways. Tim Giago, editor and publisher of the Lakota Times stated that “We (Native Americans) are not living in the past when we talk about our sacred treaties, sacred sites or the visions handed down to us through the oral history of our ancestors. We are talking about yesterday, today and tomorrow. To us they are all one and the same.” Native Americans would rather live in their ancestral land than in some foreign territory they were forced onto. It was also stated that “The modern Indian rights movement is rooted in reverence for land. Native Americans have never forgotten the vast territory they surrendered to the U.S. government more than a century ago. At the same time, they retain a deep attachment to the land they still hold. For tribal Indians, land is more than a source of food and work. It is an integral part of their religion and world view.” (Worsnop) Reservations were not needed before the white men landed on the shores of the “New World”. They were a white man’s creation and now the descendents of he who invented the reservation are complaining about how Native Americans would be better off leaving them. One positive aspect is that every reservation is treated as sovereignty. “This means that many local, state and federal laws are suspended on Indian territory.” (Querry 48) Sometimes the question of “Should America just have left it all alone in the first place.” arises and the answer tends to be “yes”. If European settlers had never been rude to the Native Americans in the first place, there would not be so many disputes over territory and legal rights today. However, there are also disputes over the quality of Native American health as well.

            Native American healthcare is poor. In reservations, for every 100, 000 people there are only 96 doctors and 251 nurses. For the general population, for every 100,000 people, there are 208 doctors and 672 nurses. This shows that although they do receive medical attention it is nowhere near the amount of medical attention the general population of the United States receives. It is difficult to comprehend how Native Americans, those who were here before the “Founding Fathers” of the United States of America, could be ignored as they are today. They suffer from diseases that average Americans do not normally acquire due to the fact that most Americans have easy access to many doctors and hospitals. This is never a good thing especially when easily treatable illnesses and disorders are on the rise on many reservations.

Suicide and alcoholism are two of the major causes of death for Native Americans.  Many of those deaths are teenagers who drop out of high school or just do not receive enough education about the dangers of alcohol abuse. According to an article from CQ Researcher Online, $70,000 was taken from a juvenile alcohol abuse prevention program to finance a fitness retreat for the Indian Health Service managers. While Native American healthcare nears oblivion, greedy “outsiders” take funds that are rightfully the native’s and use them for their own gain.

Another factor that leads to teenage suicide is the use of Native American names for sports teams. Susan Shown Harjo, president of the Morning Star Foundation in Washington D.C. “feels very strongly that Indian names for sports teams, such as Chippewas, Braves, Apaches and Chiefs, lower the self esteem of Native American teenagers and thus contribute to their high suicide rate.” To put this into comprehendible terms, the teenagers believe that they must live up to the name of the team but many of them feel as though they never can. Other times, teenagers feel as though the crowds who boo the team are really booing and jeering at them, rather than the team itself. Lastly, many gymnasium floors have a picture of the team mascot on the floor. When thousands of people walk all over that mascot, especially if it is a stereotypic face or emblem, it hurts emotionally. It would be as if a picture of Jesus was painted on the floor of a famous school and many basketball teams and teenage dances walked all over it, without a care in the world. To many Native American teenagers, seeing non-Native Americans carelessly step on a face of an “Indian” or scream “war chants” and wave tomahawks at football games hits home hard and scars them emotionally. It is essentially a form of emotional harassment towards Native Americans. Many high schools and colleges across the nation have accepted the fact that “portraying Native Americans as one dimensional warrior figures robs them of their dignity.” (Worsnop) Other teams such as the Washington Redskins refuse to change. Their owner, Jack Kent Cooke states: “‘The name was never intended to offend anyone.’ A Redskin’s policy declares, ‘Over the long history of the Washington Redskins, the name has reflected positive attributes of the Native Indian such as dedication, courage and pride.” If one were to ask ten Native American teenage boys across the country whether they agreed with Mr. Cooke’s statement, it would be probable that at least six out of the ten would disagree.

Other surprising causes of death include: depression, diabetes, tuberculosis and sudden infant death syndrome. Such things as depression and tuberculosis are usually easily treatable, however in Native American reservations, such a level of healthcare is not as easily provided, and so many more people die from these illnesses than is usual in the United States. As a matter of fact, death rates from tuberculosis and alcoholism alone are 650% higher than the overall United States’ rates. Suicide rates of Native American teenagers are three times higher than that of the general youth population of the United States. (Katel) Part of the blame should go towards the fact that according to the 1980 census, 392,000 Native Americans were living in poverty. One quarter of reservation houses lacked complete plumbing such as running hot and cold water, a flush toilet or an indoor bath of shower. Sixteen percent of reservation house lacked electric lighting. How is a citizen of the United States supposed to maintain their health and proper hygiene when they are still in a state of living in a 3rd world country?

Thankfully, since 1980 laws have been passed that help to raise the standards of living in a reservation. One law protects against child abuse, as it ensures that workers dealing with Native American children do not have criminal records. In addition to this law, if anyone knows about a worker with a criminal background does not report it, and later gets exposed, they will be fined. Another law provides funding for immunizations, mental health care, child abuse treatment, health awareness and disease prevention. However, currently, in Arizona’s San Carlos Apache Reservation, they are dealing with a fatal methamphetamine epidemic. The Upper Plains and West Native American reservations are the third largest group of methamphetamine users. This is another negative aspect of Native American health. Many teenagers on Native American reservations face alcoholism and drug abuse. The worst part is that help is not as available to them as it is to the general population of the United States; so many cases of drug and alcohol abuse go unheard along with other diet problems.

 Eating habits in many reservations are also not to the standards of the average, healthy American. Due to their low incomes, many Native Americans do not have the funds to buy healthy foods such as fresh vegetables so many have no choice but to purchase cheaper, less nutritious, processed foods. This unhealthy trend leads to serious health problems, just as it has to over a million ‘general population’ Americans already.

Overall, the average age of death for all races in 1960 in America was 62 years old. For Native Americans, it was 42. The health of an average Native American is clearly not as high-quality as that of an average person from the general population. Due to problems in government, reservations do not receive enough funding for healthcare and this leads to serious issues in the lifespan of the average Native American. If the government does not provide Native Americans with the funding they require to be as healthy as an average American of the general population, then aren’t they allowing them to become ill and die? The three basic rights of an American citizen are: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How can a Native American ill with tuberculosis, without proper medical attention have life, have liberty and be able to pursue that which makes them happy? The government is not doing what it should to ensure that Native Americans have a fair chance at the three basic rights the United State’s forefathers ensured to all American citizens, and technically, Native Americans were the first citizens since they were here even before the forefathers of the United States were. Native Americans have always had a complex culture and they taught each generation well. However, things have changed since the 17th century. 21st century skills are lacking in many reservations.

            Native American education has not been doing well, now or ever. One out of every five Native Americans, older than twenty five years old in tribes that do not own any form of gambling business have less than a 9th grade education. Of those children who are educated, 90% go to state operated public schools outside of reservations, and 10% of children go to tribal schools, of which many can be described as “condemnable buildings.”(Katel) In the early 1900’s, Native American children were taken from their reservations and sent to white boarding schools such as the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where they were not allowed to speak their native languages. These boarding schools were run by the government and were designed to “whitewash” the “Indians”. This was just another way of trying to forcefully integrate them into the Neo-American culture. These schools tore tribes apart and ruined their culture because the young children were not allowed to practice their culture in these “whitewashing” schools. If the children could not learn or practice their culture then they could not pass on their knowledge of their ancestors to the next generation. Due to the lack of passing on of tribal historical education, the culture overall weakened in many tribes. This caused a decrease in the amount of historical stories and language knowledge, thus many tribes suffered spiritually as well as culturally.

In 2007, the Department of Education spent one billion on Native American education, six million less than 2006. However, the only thing that seems to be helping Native American education is revenue from gambling businesses such as casinos. The revenue is distributed among many categories of tribal life, including the education of their youth. Many tribes have difficulty educating their children because of their economic standings and overall status of schools. While many average American children go to school in well-kept public schools, the average Native American who goes to school on a reservation will not receive the same level of education as one who attends a state-regulated, well kept public school. This low level of enthusiasm towards Native American education leads one to conclude that the government does not care about the Native Americans anymore. The reasoning behind this is that they are merely putting a billion dollars in their fund without thought to what the money will go towards. To the extent of the researched information, there are not nearly as many regulations, laws and standards for Native American schools as there are for state regulated, public schools such as Northwestern Regional 7 High School. Due to the attitude of the government and education officials toward Native American schools, many choose to drop out before their 12th grade graduation. This does not help either the employment rate of the reservation or the overall 21st century knowledge level of the average Native American. There is a sense that the government simply does not care about the education of Native Americans. This apathy towards what some believe to be the most important ethnicity in the United States is reflected in the quality of life in many reservations. The level of poverty, disease, and substandard living conditions are all what one would find in a 3rd world country. However, one must still keep in mind that these words are being used to describe the lifestyle of a Native American in the late 20th and 21st century of the United States of America. This absence of knowledge in Native American reservations leads one to conclude that Native American education is no doubt below national standards.

            Many Native American economies have been suffering more than the average American. This is due to many reasons, one of which being that there are very few employment options on many reservations. Native Americans suffer from “rampant unemployment and underemployment.” (Worsnop) It is a fact that American Indians have the highest unemployment, poverty and disease rates of any ethnic group in the United States. To combat the shortage of jobs and lack of government funding, Native American tribes that reside near populated areas and famous tourist attractions may decide to build casinos.

Casinos have been zproven to increase the standards of three aspects of a Native American lifestyle: health, education and personal economies. However, not only do they bring revenue but also employment opportunities.  According to R.L Worsnop from a C.Q. Researcher Online article, “Indians get $1.3 billion from their casinos and many tribes say that those kinds of revenues are ‘crucial to their economic survival.’ Gambling is a key source of jobs on reservations, where unemployment rates are above 40%, which is not uncommon.” (Worsnop) These gambling centers bring tourists and therefore revenue into tribal hands. Many Native Americans have been able to find work in casinos and this helps both the employment rate of the tribe and the Native American’s well-being. According to an article by P. Katel in CQ Researcher Online: “Two hundred twenty-eight tribes in thirty states opened 367 high stakes bingo halls or casinos in 2004 and earned an estimated $19.6 billion.” These gambling businesses helped to ease the problems created by low government funding. Although casinos have decreased the status of Native American people, they have increased funding for education, health care and tribal government. They are “powerful economic energies for many tribal economies”. (Katel) Overall, fifteen grossed $250 million or more, forty grossed $100 million to $250 million, fifty-seven earned $3 million to $10 million and ninety four earned less than $3 million. (Katel) If properly distributed, even $3 million dollars makes a difference in the lives of Native American tribes. Even those casinos that never make more than five million dollars, still obtain some sort of revenue to help pay for tribal expenses.

Many presidents have not been helping to aid the Native Americans, such as President Reagan in the 1980’s. He cut 1/3 of the federal assistance to Natives. $ 3.5 billion dollars was cut to $2 billion dollars. Very few tribes were able to recuperate and gain revenue from other sources. President Regan also pocket-vetoed a bill that was to provide $100 million for an Indian Redevelopment Finance Commission that was to make loans to Indian businesses. However in 1970, President Nixon reorganized the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Native Americans were given top level bureau positions. Also, federal funding for Indian programs was expanded.

Although the presidents have a large responsibility to fund Native American tribes, there have been some that have successfully funded themselves through ancestral ways. Take the Navajo for example, they decided to grow potatoes, and now they are Frito Lay’s largest supplier of potatoes! (Worsnop) Since they took their financial issues into their own hands and figured out how to make ends meet and beyond, they earn enough to keep the reservation running healthy and also provide enough for a better education than most Native Americans receive in general. However, their potato sales are not enough, and in 2004 they finally approved gambling on their reservation, they only approved it for two reasons: they needed the jobs and the extra revenue it would bring to the tribe. When Native American unemployment on reservations nationwide is 49%, which is ten times the national rate, (Katel) ideas like these bring about positive changes to Native American tribes and eventually help them to recover from their social depression.

As of 2006, the per capita income has increased 20% on reservations to $7,942. In tribes who operate a casino, it has increased 36% to $9,771. Unemployment, on the other hand has decreased five percent on reservations and Native American areas. Child poverty in non-gambling tribes dropped from 55% of the child population to 44%. Times have been changing for many Native American tribes, but when one’s ethnicity makes up a bit more than 1% of the national population, (All percentages and values, Katel) the changes are not seen as prominently as if they were changes made to white populations. Although the Native Americans were here before the forefathers of this nation and the immigrants who came here to escape the countries they hailed from, they were pushed down and disregarded as anyone important. Immigrants from many nations quickly overtook the land the natives called home. In addition, when immigrants were given their rights, not a single thought was spared for the Native Americans, those whose land was now inhabited by strangers. Still today, they do not seem to have the full rights of an American citizen. At least, they technically have the rights, but the government will not approve anything for them, leaving many tribes out of sight and out of mind. If the government is supposed to represent that which it governs and stands for, then how can is represent that which it does not care for? It is common knowledge that in modern times, if one does not have the means to support themselves, then they will not go far.  

In conclusion, Native Americans have been struggling for centuries to catch up to the United States government’s standards of health, education and economy. However, the government has not been trying its hardest to support America’s true founding fathers. Therefore, if they are dying from disease, forced to stay on reservations for their own safety and economic security, how can one say that Native Americans have the same basic rights as the general population of the United States? What does America really owe those who inhabited this land before the white men, those who taught him the ways of this land? What does America fail to give back to those who gave us everything in return for nothing, moved their people almost without opposition? Has the United States failed to provide to the true forefathers of this land, that what Americans declared in their Constitution, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?”

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Works Cited

Cooper, M. H. (1996, July 12). Native Americans’ future. CQ Researcher, 6, 601-624. Retrieved March 1, 2010 from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1996071200

Katel, P. (2006, April 28.) American Indians. CQ Researcher, 16, 361-384. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher.com/cqresrre2006042800

Landers, R. K. (1991, January 18). Is America allowing its past to be stolen?. CQ Researcher, 1, 34-49. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher.com/cqresrre1991011800

Querry, Ronald B. Native Americans Struggle for Equality. Vero Beach, Florida: Rourke Corporation, Inc, 1992.

Worsnop, R. L. (1992, May 8). Native Americans. CQ Researcher, 2, 385-408. Retrieved March 1, 2010 from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher.com/cqresrre1992050800

Minor Sources

Davey, Monica. “Insult or Honor?” The New York Times: Upfront.

Josephy, Alvin M. Red Power.

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I encourage you to review this image in larger detail, then view the image below. Please go to their Wikipedia link and zoom. It is unbelievable what the new settlers of America have done in only a few millennium.

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Image via Wikipedia

Spanish Moss hanging on a fallen limb.

Take a drive through any forest or tree lined lane in the southeastern United States, and you will see Spanish Moss draped on the oak trees.

Spanish Moss (tillandsia usneoides) is a flowering herb plant that grows on host trees in the hot humid areas of the United States. It seems to favor large trees such as the Southern Live Oak and Bald Cypress.

Known as an epiphyte or air plant, Spanish Moss has no aerial roots and tiny inconspicuous flowers. It is well recognized by its curly heavily scaled leaves that grow in a chain like fashion to form large hanging masses.

While rarely causing harm to the host tree by stealing its nutrients, it can harm the tree by blocking sunlight or weakening the branches with its weight. This can cause damage to homes, property or people, if the branches break especially during hurricane season.

Another problem with Spanish Moss is the creatures who make a home within its tangled grey depths. It is a popular habitat for birds, bats, warbles, reptiles, redbugs, chiggers, rat snakes and one species of jumping spider. Care must be taken when removing Spanish Moss as the bug population can cause itching or a rash to exposed skin.

Now that we have discussed the scientific aspects of Spanish Moss, let’s delve into the more romanticized local legends that have been told for generations about the origins of this unique plant.

The story told in South Carolina goes like this: In 1700 a traveler came to Charleston with his Spanish fiancée to build a fine plantation. While walking over the site of their new home and making plans for the future, they were attacked by a band of Cherokee and killed. As a warning to stay away from the Cherokee Nation, they cut off the long raven locks of the doomed fiancée, and hung them in the branches of an oak tree.  The hair shriveled and turned grey and begin spreading from tree to tree. Soon it spread from the Carolinas to Florida and Georgia. A testimonial to the direr warnings of the Cherokee Nation to stay off the land of their forefathers.

In Louisiana this is the tale of the Spanish Moss: An Indian brave of the Choctaw Clan lived on the banks of the bayou with his beautiful, and much loved wife. His wife died in childbirth with the couple’s first child. The grieving husband buried his wife and child, at the base of a huge oak tree, and hung her long midnight braids on a tree limb to mark the gravesite. In time, the braids turned grey and hung down from the branches like flowing teardrops. Soon the winds carried the weeping strands from tree to tree until they covered all the villages along the Gulf of Mexico. And the tree hair or Itla-okla, as it is known in the Choctaw Indian language still weeps to this day for a grieving husband and father.

In Florida this is how the legend goes: In the early days of Florida’s history, when the Spanish ruled the Gulf of Mexico, a villain named Gorez Goz fled Spain for the panhandle. Finding little more than a rough village under Spanish rule, Goz set about making his mark. While his heart was hard and cruel, it was touched by love for a beautiful Indian maid. He bargained with her father, and bought her for his bride with a yard of braid and a bar of soap. The Indian maid was afraid of her new husband-to-be and fled from his sight. Finding the object of his affection had taken flight, he gave chase. The young Indian lass was so bent on being free of the Spaniard, she climbed on the slender branch of an oak tree and dove into a lake. Hell bent on catching his prize, Goz climbed out on the limb after her, and caught his long grey whiskers in the branches. His fight to free himself ended with his own beard choking him to death. The Indian maiden was free and the whiskers left in the limbs as a warning to other Spanish crooks. Soon the whiskers began to spread from tree to tree and were called Spanish Moss.

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Spanish Moss hanging off an oak tree.

Back in time, Andrew Jackson was the president, Andrew Jackson passed an act to remove all of the Indians to west to expand our nation. This act was wrong and shouldn’t have been passed for many reasons. Andrew Jackson was wrong to make the Indians move. Andrew Jackson made them move for a bad reason. He also made the Indian population drop and made this culture much smaller.

            First, Andrew Jackson was wrong to make the Indians move. Andrew Jackson shouldn’t have made the Indians move. “When Andrew Jackson took office, a year later he pushed a piece to legislation called the “Indian Removal Act” through both houses of Congress” (Indian Removal 3). They never gave the Indians a chance to cooperate with each other to make things work out. Right away Andrew Jackson said that the Indians needed to move for their own needs. What happened to the needs of others? What about where they would live and or what they would do for food?

Second, Andrew Jackson’s reason to make them leave wasn’t a good enough reason to make them leave. Andrew Jackson said that all of the Indians to the west need to leave so that they can move westward. Some of the Indians said no to this, like the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation said that they will not move from their land, and this ended up into a war between the states and the Indians. The reason why this is not a good reason is because why could the people of the United States not live with the Indians. “Why should they be expelled from their lands when they no longer threaten white settlements and could compete with them on many levels?” (Remini 48)  How come we could not live with the Indians and learn new things, and teach them things we know. We could have grown our nation bigger if we joined forces and learned off each other. If we did this, we might have been in higher technology than we are today.

Lastly, the “Indian Removal Act” made the Indian population much smaller than it should have been. When a Indian Nation said no to moving from their land they went physical force to kick them out. The Cherokee Nation said no to move from their home land and it ended up going into a war. This almost wiped out the Cherokee’s population completely. “No act of the General Government has ever been deemed necessary to give the States jurisdiction over the persons of the Indians” (Richardson 500+) This means that the States had no right to kill the Indians for not moving from the land. The Cherokee Nation did not want to move but to live with them. The states said no to this and then a war broke out. This left the Cherokee Nation almost extinct.

In conclusion, what Andrew Jackson did was wrong and not needed. The “Indian Removal Act” was a very bad thing and made things a lot harder then they could have been if we just did things other ways. Andrew Jackson did not need to make them leave their home land so that we can move farther west. When the people could have made a deal with the Indians to work and live with each other. If the people did do this maybe this would make us farther in technology than we are today.

         In the more fertile plains the Cherokee were farmers and hunters. They grew all sorts of things like maize(corn), beans, sunflowers, squash, and tobacco. Cherokee often hunted deer and bear in the river valleys and mountains. Fish were caught and berries were picked in the river valleys. To get small animals they used reed dart guns instead of bow and arrow like with the deer and bear. These foods are just some of the things they used to live on.

         The Cherokee had lots of extra time because they were not nomadic. This time let them work and things like pottery, baskets, and woodcutting. The hides from hunted animals were used for making useful yet decorative clothing. They also had time to make and celebrate elaborate, cultural ceremonies.

         The Cherokee belief system has not changed much since it was created. It is based around the number seven. Seven is the number of clans in the Cherokee tribe. It is also the seven directions; North, South, East, West, Upper World, Lower World, and Center World. For marriage, the spouse needed to be from a different clan and the marriage must be approved. The morning of the wedding, the Clan Chief recites a prayer where he puts a root in each hand. If one root moves, the new couple would have bad luck, and if both moved, they would have good luck.

         In conclusion, this article should prove that the Cherokee Native Americans were very civilized people, which had some characteristics of modern-day people. They had all marriages outside of their blood-families.

One person who recorded a great amount of information about the Cherokee language was Margaret R. Siler, the daughter-in-law of one of the founding members of the town of Franklin, NC. In Siler’s reflections on the subject of the variation between the English and Cherokee languages, she mentions the fluidity of sound as the most easily recognizable difference. There are only two words in the entire language for which the lips meet to pronounce: those for salt and water. “No pen can give the music of the Cherokees’ soft voices, that seem to have taken the cadence of rippling waters or tender grasses that bend and sway in the breeze.” (Siler, 1938) 

Another thing that stands Cherokee apart from English is its differing sentence structure. Descriptive words are always used at the end of a sentence instead of before the noun. Instead of saying, “She has blonde hair,” the exact translation from Cherokee would read, “She has hair blonde.” There is also a raise in pitch with the last syllable of each word, accenting each point. Something such as understanding another’s sentence structure can be extremely important to the different cultures. Siler recalls a time when a relative was approached by an old Cherokee woman who made the statement, in English, “Bread want I.” When she asked why she had not said, “Ha nogatoola cartoo; I want bread?” the woman stormed off insulted and refused to ever come to the house again (Siler, 1938).

Cherokee is a language that puts direct meaning with every name of a person or place. For example, the word “Nantahala” referring to the National Forest (based around the river) can be directly translated to mean, “River of the Noonday Sun.” The reason for this is that in some of the gorges cut by the river over thousands of years, the sun touches the water only at noon when it is directly overhead. In another matter, the direct phonetic translation wouldn’t even be “Nantahala” as the English language states, but “Nan-toi-yar-la.” The discrepancy between the two, as well as the names of many other places, stems mainly from the fact that over the years the language has been lost to all but a few. The names of places remembered are twisted to be easier to pronounce in English (Siler, 1938).

Though the English language was established hundreds of years ago, Cherokee is a version of the Southern Iroquoian Language, and remains to be the only one still spoken. However, written word is an entirely different matter; up until the year 1821 there was no established written symbols. A Cherokee born in Tennessee by the name of Sequoyah developed a syllabary that spread among thousands of his people within just a few months of its introduction. Sequoyah had come about the need for a written version of the Cherokee language as a result of his time serving in the war of 1812 under General Andrew Jackson. When he saw all of the English soldiers writing letters home, reading orders, and writing down the things that were happening around them for later reference, he was convinced that it was important that the Cherokee people be able to do the same (Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, 2007). Though Cherokee may be a fluid and beautiful language, English has had literally hundreds of years more to refine its written intricacies.

Resulting from the lack of a standard written component for the Cherokee prior to the 1820s, most Englishmen who encountered them stereotyped them as unintelligent. Tales of barbaric or savage tribes greatly distorted the English vision of Native Americans, but they were extremely inaccurate. The Cherokee, who were named that by the Spanish who first encountered them, actually called themselves “Ani-yun-wiya,” which translates “People, Peaceful.” (Siler, 1938)

Unfortunately there was little that could be done to change the image that had been unjustly given to the Cherokee. “The problem with stereotypes is that whether they are positive or negative, once they are established, it is difficult to remove them.” (Hybels & Weaver, 2007, pg. 66) Only in recent years have the Cherokee been able to establish themselves as a “normal” culture that functions in a society much like other Americans. It was a barbaric act on the part of the English settlers, not the Cherokee, that brought about the negative conflict between the two cultures and forced them to assimilate.

Unlike larger cultures, the Cherokee are currently worried because the use of their language is greatly threatened. “At this point Cherokee is in a precarious position because there are only 300-800 speakers remaining – a situation which endangers the possibility of documenting such genres as conversational language.” (Cherokee Registry, 2010) According to the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the language is currently between stages 6 and 7 on Stanford University Scholar Joshua Fishman’s Stages of Language Endangerment, which is to say between having some intergenerational use of the language and only adults beyond childbearing years able to speak the language. Stage 8 would bring almost complete extinction, with only a few elders in the tribe being fluent. (2008).

In comparing and contrasting the way different cultures and their languages, many things are important to consider. Cherokee is a softer sounding tongue than the more brash English. The two languages have opposite sentence structures and do not stem from the same root languages; Cherokee is based in Iroquois while English is based mostly in Latin. The English language is more refined from time, yet more complex as a result. Cherokee is threatened with extinction from the dwindling size of its culture while English continues to thrive. Each of these distinctions between the two languages and their cultures are significant, and the understanding between the two is paramount.

References

The Cherokee Registry, (2010). Cherokee language. Retrieved October 30, 2010, from http://cherokeeregistry.firstlightonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=293&Itemid=382

Hybels, S. & and Weaver, R.L., (2007). Communicating effectively (8th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, (2007). About Sequoyah. Retrieved October 30, 2010, from http://www.sequoyahmuseum.org/index.cfm/m/

Siler, M. (1938). Cherokee Indian lore and smoky mountain stories. Macon County, NC: Terestia Books.

         The Cherokee Indians are of the Southeast Native American group.  They used to live in what is now Kentucky.  There were warm and humid summers, and mild winters.  They had fertile coastal plains, river valleys, mountains, and swamps.  The major tribes in this area are the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Seminole, and the Creek.

         They lived in longhouses with a thatch roof and no windows.  There are 30 to 60 of these cabins in each village, and there were about 60 villages.  There was also a large meeting house with a fire.  They hunted deer and bear with a bow, and used a reed blow dart gun for small animals.  They also picked fresh berries and caught fresh-water fish.  They wore simple buckskin clothing made from the deer they hunted.  They made pottery, baskets, woodcraft, and more.  They used simple fishing rods, bows and arrows made of wood and blow dart guns.

         They had beautiful art. Again with the pottery, baskets, and woodcraft.  They made amazing designs on their pottery.  The baskets were simply and primarily used for collecting berries.  With good wood crafting skills, they could make well-working canoes.  They also did feather work, and painting.

         Their religious beliefs have been shifted partly Christian after being forced to Oklahoma, but before, they had amazing stories and myths.  The numbers four and seven are their two special numbers. Four represents the familiar forces (earth, wind, fire, water) and also the cardinal directions.  Seven represents the number of Cherokee clans, and also the 7 directions.  There is North, South, East, West, the Upper World, the Lower World, and the Center.

         In the families, a marriage must be shared with someone from a different clan, and you had to ask if it was a good decision.  In the morning before the wedding, the chief would put 1 root in each hand and recite a prayer.  If one root moves, then you will have bad luck, and if both move you will have good luck. There are seven clans, each of which is considered a large family, though they’re not all related.  A clan was orderly; each blood-related family lived in their own home.

         In the 1831, President Andrew Jackson removed the Five Civilized Tribes, which included the Cherokee, to Oklahoma, where they live now. This act is well known as the Trail of Tears. It was full of hardships for these five tribes, including millions of deaths and great loss. They fought back at the Americans to keep their land that they have lived on for hundreds of years.

The Cherokee tribe was definitely the biggest in the Southeast region.  The most famous Cherokee from back in those times was Sequoyah, who invented the Native American alphabet used by most of the tribes in the Southeast region.  No one knew how to read and write, so he taught them.  The Cherokees were important to this country’s past, as were most other tribes, too.

From this, I learned that the Native Americans were prosperous, at least until the Americans moved them from their home.  Knowing how hard they fought back and how many lives were sacrificed, it truly showed that the Cherokee people cherished their land.  It also shows how people can actually care about what they have, rather than just put it all to waste, like we Americans do now.

He loved to challenge his mind with ways to improve the Cherokee way of life.  Some of the older Cherokee were not too happy with change ,so they thought Sequoyah was making fools of them.   He solved the problem of keeping milk fresher and longer for his mother, by building a cabin of the nearby stream.  The water was always running fresh and cool in the stream ,so he stored his mother’s milk on the floor of the cabin.  With the stream acting as a cooling agent, he kept the milk colder longer.

Sequoyah became a silver smith ,so he could put his own personal marks on his jewelry.  He would make the pieces different each time by the marking that was on them.  Becoming famous with his ear rings, chains, and bracelets.  After awhile, he became a black smith because being a silver smith came to easy to him and he thought of himself as lazy then.  Being a black smith,  he could sell his own metal tools.

Begininng to paint and draw was another way to keep his mind sharp and active.  He taught himself how to mix the paints and his own brushes.

In 1813, General Andrew Jackson asked for the Cherokee’s help.  He wanted Cherokee men to join in the fight against the Creek Indians.   In 1814, General Andrew Jackson was declared the winner because of the fighting power of his soldiers and the Cherokee Indians.

In 1815, Sequoyah married a Cherokee woman named Sally.

In 1816, Andrew Jackson came once more to speak to the Cherokee Indians and this time the meeting did not go very well.  He wanted the Indians to sign a treaty which stated that the Cherokee people agreed to sell their land to the United States.  The representations at first said “No!”  ,but changed their mind when Andrew Jackson said “The United States will take your land one way or another.  Might as well do it peaceful and make some money out of it.”  Finally, the Cherokee Indians signed the treaty.

When the white settlers came to clear the land, Sequoyah was going to move with the rest of his tribe to the Arkansas Territory.  At the last minute, he changes his mind and moves to a nearby Cherokee village in Willstown.

While Sequoyah was inventing his talking leaves, he would forget everything else.  Sally, his wife often was heard to say how she had to do everything including the farm work.   Finally, he wanted peace and quiet,  he built a cabin some distance from the main house.  The only person that would come to see him at the cabin was his daughter, Ahyoka.

After successful inventing the talking leaves, Sequoyah was given medal from the Cherokee people for all the gifts he had given them.

In the summer of 1843, Sequoyah heard that there was more Cherokee living in Mexico ,so he went in search for them.  He passed away before finding them.