May 23, 1838: Cherokee removal “Trail of Tears” begins.

In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died. The Cherokee call the forced march to Oklahoma "Nunna daul Tsuny . " That translates into English as "trail where they cried."

The term "Trails of Tears" was given to the period of ten years in which over 70,000 Indians had to give up their homes and move to certain areas assigned to tribes in Oklahoma. The tribes were given a right to all of Oklahoma except the Panhandle. The government promised this land to them "as long as grass shall grow and rivers run." Unfortunately, the land that they were given only lasted till about 1906 and then they were forced to move to other reservations.

Early in the 19th century, while the rapidly-growing United States expanded into the lower South, white settlers faced what they considered an obstacle. This area was home to the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chicasaw and Seminole nations. These Indian Nations, in the view of the settlers and many other white Americans, were standing in the way of progress. Eager for land to raise cotton, the settlers pressured the federal government to acquire Indian territory.

Andrew Jackson, from Tennessee, was a forceful proponent of Indian removal. In 1814 he commanded the U.S. military forces that defeated a faction of the Creek nation. In their defeat, the Creeks lost 22 million acres of land in southern Georgia and central Alabama. The U.S. acquired more land in 1818 when, spurred in part by the motivation to punish the Seminoles for their practice of harboring fugitive slaves, Jackson's troops invaded Spanish Florida.

Although the five Indian nations had made earlier attempts at resistance, many of their strategies were non-violent. One method was to adopt Anglo-American practices such as large-scale farming, Western education, and slave-holding. This earned the nations the designation of the "Five Civilized Tribes." They adopted this policy of assimilation in an attempt to coexist with settlers and ward off hostility. But it only made whites jealous and resentful.

Other attempts involved ceding portions of their land to the United States with a view to retaining control over at least part of their territory, or of the new territory they received in exchange. Some Indian nations simply refused to leave their land -- the Creeks and the Seminoles even waged war to protect their territory. The First Seminole War lasted from 1817 to 1818. The Seminoles were aided by fugitive slaves who had found protection among them and had been living with them for years. The presence of the fugitives enraged white planters and fueled their desire to defeat the Seminoles.

The Cherokee used legal means in their attempt to safeguard their rights. They sought protection from land-hungry white settlers, who continually harassed them by stealing their livestock, burning their towns, and squatting on their land. In 1827 the Cherokee adopted a written constitution declaring themselves to be a sovereign nation. They based this on United States policy; in former treaties, Indian nations had been declared sovereign so they would be legally capable of ceding their lands. Now the Cherokee hoped to use this status to their advantage. The state of Georgia, however, did not recognize their sovereign status, but saw them as tenants living on state land. The Cherokee took their case to the Supreme Court, which ruled against them.

The Cherokee went to the Supreme Court again in 1831. This time they based their appeal on an 1830 Georgia law which prohibited whites from living on Indian territory after March 31, 1831, without a license from the state. The state legislature had written this law to justify removing white missionaries who were helping the Indians resist removal. The court this time decided in favor of the Cherokee. It stated that the Cherokee had the right to self-government, and declared Georgia's extension of state law over them to be unconstitutional. The state of Georgia refused to abide by the Court decision, however, and President Jackson refused to enforce the law.

The Trails of Tears were several trails that the Five civilized Tribes traveled on their way to their new lands. Many Indians died because of famine or disease. Sometimes a person would die because of the harsh living conditions. The tribes had to walk all day long and get very little rest. All this was in order to free more land for white settlers. The period of forcible removal started when Andrew Jackson became President in 1829. At that time there was reported to be sightings of gold in the Cherokee territory in Georgia which caused prospectors to rush in, tearing down fences and destroying crops. In Mississippi, the state laws were extended over Choctaw and Chickasaw lands, and in 1930 the Indians were made citizens which made it illegal to hold any tribal office. Also in Georgia, the Cherokee tribes were forbade to hold any type of tribal legislature except to ratify land cessions, and the citizens of Georgia were invited to rob and plunder the tribes in making it illegal for an Indian to bring suit against a white man.

After the end of the Trails of Tears, the conversion of all tribes to Christianity had been effected rapidly. The Seminoles and Creeks were conservative to their customs but other tribes were receptive to any custom considered superior to their own. The tribes found Christian teachings fitted to their own. Mainly the modernization change began at the end of the removal.

Andrew Jackson Gave a speech on the Indian removal in the year of 1830. He said, "It gives me great pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the government, steady pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation with the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation."

"The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual states, and to the Indians themselves. It puts an end to all possible danger of a collision between the authorities of the general and state governments, and of the account the Indians. It will place a dense population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savaged hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the Southwestern frontier and render the adjacent states strong enough to repel future invasion without remote aid."

"It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the government and through the influences of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community."

U looks to increase American Indian student enrollment

By: Michael McFall

The daughter of a medicine man and weaver, Lena Judee spent her days as a young Arizona Navajo girl in a community close to its traditional American Indian roots. She left her family to pursue a higher education, and after studying at two colleges and working 23 years at another university, Judee has joined the U as one of two new staff members to help American Indian students.

The U has appointed two new staff members in attempt to increase American Indian student enrollment and improve American Indians' chances for academic achievement. In the last five years, new Native American student enrollment peaked in 2006 with 14 students.

In order to improve those numbers, the U appointed Nola Lodge as the new director of American Indian teacher education in the College of Education and hired Judee as the coordinator for American Indian students in the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs.

Michael Hardman, dean of the College of Education, said that Lodge's leadership experience and commitment will benefit the preparation of American Indian students for careers in the field of education.

Lodge, a member of the Wisconsin Oneida tribe, will work directly with departments in the College of Education to reach out to Utah's American Indian community, as well as coordinate programs with the Office for Diversity and the American Indian Resource Center to draw and retain more American Indian students. She will also teach two courses on multicultural education each year.

"I am delighted to accept the position here in the College of Education and look forward to collaboration with the college departments and American Indian faculty and staff," Lodge said.

Judee will be critical in providing full academic support and guidance for the students, said David Pershing, the senior vice president for academic affairs. Judee said that her academic success proves that young American Indians can succeed.

"If I can make it this far, they can do it even better," she said.

Lodge and Judee will begin their work in July.

Remember the Kootenai Tribe's struggle against the feds in 1974? Now's your chance to learn.

By: Tim Woodward

"Idaho's Forgotten War" is a fitting title for a documentary trailer being screened Saturday at the Flicks. Most Idahoans today don't know the war ever happened.

"It's a story that needed to be told," Sonya Rosario, the film's director, said. "If it wasn't, we could have lost this incredible voice and part of the history of Idaho."

The "incredible voice" is that of Amy Trice, chairwoman of North Idaho's Kootenai Tribe during the last Indian war declared against the U.S. government - in 1974.

The film tells "the true history of the Native Americans, not what's in the history books," Trice said.

"It shows how the people live and what we've gone through and how our land was taken with no compensation."

Led by Trice and others, the 67-member tribe declared "war" on the United States to protest living conditions in its village near Bonners Ferry and the taking of its ancestral land. More than a million acres were signed away without the Kootenais' presence under the treaty of Hellgate, Mont., in 1855.

In 1962, the government gave the tribe 36 cents an acre, based on 1855 land values.

The Kootenais weren't given a reservation, and their Depression-era housing was so inadequate that a tribal elder, Moses Joseph, froze to death in his home. From the tribe's perspective, the war wasn't merely a protest. It was a fight for survival.

Want to know more? Click here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/388225.html

Santa Fe Indian Market: Pojoaque signs on as sponsor

By: David Collins

It's a new day for American Indian art in Santa Fe. For the first time in the 87 year history of the annual Indian Market, a local pueblo will be the major sponsor.

The Pueblo of Pojoaque, Hilton Hotels and the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts announced Wednesday that the pueblo's Buffalo Thunder Resort has agreed to sponsor the Indian Market for the next three years.

"For a long time, the dominant culture's vision was to take care of American Indian people. It was a paternalistic vision. Rarely do Indian people have a say in how their ideas are presented," said Bruce Bernstein, SWAIA's executive director.

With Pojoaque's sponsorship of the city's world-renowned venue for American Indian art, local American Indians now have a financial stake in the direction of their art market, Bernstein said.

Bernstein and Pojoaque Gov. George Rivera declined to say exactly how much the sponsorship will cost the pueblo's resort in terms of dollars, but Rivera said the cost of the named sponsorship would double by the third year. "It wasn't cheap," Rivera said.

For Pojoaque, which has for years sponsored sports teams and youth programs in its neighborhood and has opened its Poeh Cultural Center studios at no cost to all American Indians, the new three-year affiliation with SWAIA is its largest commercial sponsorship to date.

"I'm not sure what Bruce (Bernstein) is doing to help us," Rivera quipped, suggesting the sponsorship was more a benefit to the local art market than to the pueblo's $245 million resort.

"We are doing the right thing," Rivera added later. "We are helping Native American artists."

Keep reading here: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SantaFeNorthernNM/Indian-Market-Pojoaque-signs-on-as-sponsor