The Trail of Tears was just one of several moments of displacement & removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands and is commemorated on September 16th. After the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, & Choctaw nations were forcibly removed from their homelands in the Southeastern United States to then the newly designated Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi River.
The tribes in the Old Northwest (which would be Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, & Minnesota) were also displaced. Following the Northwest Indian War, most of the state of Ohio was taken by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. The Lenape Delaware Tribe, the Kickapoo, & bands of Shawnee were forcibly removed from Indiana, Michigan, & Ohio in the 1820s. The Potawatomi were forced out of Michigan & Wisconsin in late 1838 & resettled in the Kansas Territory. What remained of the Shawnee (the Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sauk, & Fox), signed treaties & relocated to Indian Territory.
History is a mix of traumatic events & questionable decisions, along with the things to be proud of & to cheer about. Things like the Trail of Tears falls under the former & it is part of American History. It is always a good day to take a hard look at history & to work on our allyship. Today, we bring forth the opportunity to do so.
For those who are interested in learning more, below are a few suggestions:
DVD - Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy; Trail of Tears: A Native American Documentary Collection
Adult Level Books - Trail of Tears by Emily Schlesinger; Trail of Tears: The Rise & Fall of the Cherokee Nation by John Ehle; & An American Betrayal: Cherokee Patriots & the Trail of Tears by Daniel Blake Smith
Child Level Books - The Trail of Tears by Joseph Bruchac; The Trail of Tears by Peter Benoit; The Trail of Tears, 1838 by Laura Purdie Salas