1. The Cherokee leaders believed it was important to establish positive relationships with first, the Europeans, and then later the United States for their protection and for the advancement of the Cherokee people.
2. The significance of the Supreme Court decision in the Worcester v Georgia case was that the lands of the Cherokee were to be considered a nation- the Cherokee Nation, a separate nation with their own government, rules and laws, and that the laws of Georgia did not apply to the Cherokee Nation.
3. The Cherokee Nation used the court system suing the state of Georgia to try and fight their removal. Cherokee newspapers were also used to point out that these lands had belonged to the Cherokee long before Europeans arrived, and long before there was a United States. This WAS their homeland they were being asked to leave.
4. In the 1830's, the Cherokee Nation capital was located in New Echota, Georgia. The Treaty of New Echota was signed in December of 1835 by Cherokees who had no right to sign or agree to the treaty. Principal Chief John Ross was the leader of the Cherokee Nation at that time, but had no part of either drafting the treaty or signing the treaty. In the treaty, the Cherokees agreed to cede all of their lands in the East, for lands west of the Mississippi River. The problem was the real Cherokee Nation did not sign or agree to the treaty.
5. Although the petition protesting the Treaty of New Echota was signed by Principal Chief John Ross and 2,174 Cherokees, the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson chose to ignore the decision and pushed a bill through Congress called the Indian Removal Act which was passed by Congress on May 28, 1830, signed by Jackson quickly into law, and which ultimately forced all southeastern tribes to give up their lands.
6. Initially, the U.S. Army began removing the Cherokee people by bayonet and placing them in stockade camps. In what has become known as "The Trail of Tears," the Cherokee nation was herded west. Disease, starvation, bad weather, and cruel treatment saw many Cherokee die, many placed in unmarked graves. Principal Chief John Ross asked that he be allowed to oversee the remaining removal after seeing how terrible it was in the stockade camps. It was agreed and Ross oversaw the 13 remaining groups.
7. In December, 1838, a newspaperman from the New York Observer witnessed a group of 1100 Cherokee camped out in a forest with heavy rainfall, high winds and falling temperatures, and only canvas as a shelter. He reported that he read President Jackson's message that said the Cherokee were peaceable and without reluctance removed. The evidence of soldiers with bayonets prodding the people along and the cruel treatment the Cherokees received says otherwise, as he reported.
8. On arrival at the Indian Territory the Cherokee people were angry- angry about the treaty that they had not officially signed, angry about the loss of their homelands and angry about what they found in the Indian Territory, lands unlike their former homeland had been. In 1843, approximately 18-22 tribes from the Eastern and Western Cherokee Nations met to discuss the future, and establish peace and friendship among the people there. Many people believe it was one of the most significant meetings of Indians on the North American continent.
9. Once they arrived in the Indian territory, the Cherokee Nation amazingly reestablished itself. They built homes, created new businesses, and through the Act of Union created a new government with an executive branch, a legislative branch and a judicial branch, new laws to serve the Cherokee nation.
10. The Cherokee Nation continues to thrive on the 7,000 square mile land they occupy and have jurisdiction over in northeast Oklahoma. They have created an economic impact of over two billion dollars in the state of Oklahoma. The Cherokee Nation has worked hard to maintain tribal traditions, culture, the arts and the language of their ancestors. Cherokee communities come together for traditional celebrations that embrace meals of pork and fish and games of stick ball, marbles, and a rolling stick and spear game. The Cherokee Nation survived the Trail of Tears because of their resiliency, their love for family, and the belief that education moving forward was their key to success in the future.
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