It is amazing to me that so little is still known about the Trail of Tears or the lives of the Cherokees themselves.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The Trail of Tears has a great deal of meaning for every person of American Indian ancestry, whether they are Cherokee or not. For me, it has always stood for what is best and worst about the history of the United States.
I honestly think I was an Indian living in the time of the Trail of Tears. Something like that. Every time I read books about back then, I get so devastatingly sad, so, so... I feel such a deep connection to it.
I'm proud of being part Cherokee, and I think it's time all us Indians felt the same way.
Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward.
I was told all my life I was part Cherokee. Then it was Crow. The latest is Blackfoot.
I'm Cherokee, and there were times when social expansion was something that is needed by a cultural group or a national group.
I've always been fascinated with the history of the Plains Indians and the history of the American Indian Movement in the '70s.
The Native American side was tragic. It's just unbelievable what has happened to them.
It affords me sincere pleasure to be able to apprise you of the entire removal of the Cherokee Nation of Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
Very good records exist about the Trail of Tears. Journals and other records kept by Cherokees and non-Indians tell such things as which people were where on which day.