"Coo-wee-scoo-wee, Cherokee Messenger"

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Various Articles of aHistoric and Personal Perspective

Here on this page I've posted a few articles that I've written over the years give you a glance into the early history of my people, the Cherokee.  The area I focus on, are events occurring throughout the 19th century.  Please bear in mind I can not write these articles without interjecting my personal thoughts/comments.  They may differ from yours, but this will, at the very least, give you an overview of the history of my people leading up to, during and following the infamous, "Trail of Tears."

This first article is about the Georgia Compact:

The encroachment of the white settlers on land traditionally belonging to the Indian Nations began with the arrival of the first Europeans.  Throughout the colonial period attempts wee made by the British to control the situation.  Such measures as the Proclamation Line of 1763, which prohibited settlement west of the Appalachian Mountain range failed to stem the tide of European advancement.

Although the new United States government made hones attempts to deal fairly with the Indian Nations, it was evident by 1800 that the old measures were not working.  The desire for land was stronger than the humanitarian feelings many had toward the Indian Nations.  The effect was clearly evident in the State of Georgia during the administration of Thomas Jefferson.  By the 1830s, the ‘Five Civilized Tribes’ (Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole) were forced out of their homelands as a direct result of this demand for more land, but a look at the two parties involved in the Compact of 1802 will provide an understanding of the events leading up to the Indian removal, “The Trail of Tears.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1786 that, “It may be regarded as certain that not a foot of land will ever be taken from the Indians, without their own consent.  The sacredness of their right is felt by all thinking persons in America as much as in Europe.”  Few doubt Jefferson, the private man, honestly had such humanitarian feelings toward the Indian Nations.  Even the public Jefferson, at times, showed his humanitarian feelings.  In 1803 he wrote to William Henry Harrison, “Our system is to live in perpetual peace with the Indians…” But he failed to reprimand Harrison for his negative treatment of the Indians with whom he had dealings.

This obvious conflict in Jefferson’s actions was evident in the whole policy, which did a complete turnabout from humanitarian to removal.  Many, including Jefferson¸ honestly believed the Indians would be left alone on the west bank of the Mississippi River in the newly acquired lands of the Louisiana Purchase.

However, the conflict in policy was not as clearly evident in the direction Georgia set out to take once the colonies formed into states.  During the colonial period Georgia, the thirteenth colony to be organized¸ served as a buffer between the British, to the north and the Spanish to the south, with little chance to expand.  After the Revolutionary War and the formation of the American government, Georgia found itself surrounded by other established settlements without claim to much external land and a high percentage of its internal land under the control of Indian tribes.  There was little chance the weakest state would have the political clout necessary to gain control of external lands.  Thus, Georgia set out to gain control over the internal lands.

As states were formed, each made an agreement with the U.S. government to give up all claims to lands outside their established boundaries the agreement by which Georgia gave up what little claim she had to outside lands also included an important clause about the internal lands held by the Indian tribes, in particular the Cherokee.

The Georgia Cession, often referred to as the Georgia Compact, was signed on April 26, 1802 by the United States Commissioners (James Madison, Albert Gallatin and Levi Lincoln) and the Commissioners of the State of Georgia.  The agreement as written, was signed by President Thomas Jefferson, who then sent it on to Congress for ratification.  Georgia gave up claim to external lands I exchange for one million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($1,250,000) to be paid the state by the national government from sale of the ceded lands.

Furthermore, the agreement stated in Article IV that – “The United States shall, at their own expense, extinguish, for the use of Georgia, as early as the same can be peaceably obtained, on reasonable terms, the Indian title to the country…”  This document set the stage for the forced removal of tribes in other states and territories.
In spite of his personal humanitarian motives, Thomas Jefferson did not consult directly with the Indian Nations before submitting this document to Congress.  The fate of the Cherokee Nation was written on the wall, without any input from them or concern for their rights as a Nation, or as individuals.  American Indian policy was set on a road of forced so-called humanitarianism, which only listened to the side it wanted to hear.

The second in this series is about the growing political problems within
Cherokee Country (1829-1836)

With the discovery of gold near Dalonegah, Georgia and the election of Andrew Jackson to the Presidency in 1828, the fate of the Cherokee was virtually sealed, as was the fates of the other tribes residing in the southeastern United States.  Jackson arrived in Washington¸ D.C. on March 4, 1829 with the intention of removing the Indians to a desolate land west of the Mississippi River where they would be “out of the way” of the white man’s expansion and exploitation of the ancestral lands of the Indians of the southeastern United States.  President Jackson and the Governors of Tennessee and Georgia set about a bureaucratic process of enacting oppressive laws.  Laws that would make life unbearable for the Cherokee people living within their respective states as well as the non-Indians living among the various tribes.

Georgia passed a set of laws in 1830, (called the Enabling Acts) which would remove the ‘blight’ from ‘their’ state - the Cherokee Indian.  The laws passed by the Georgia legislature were without regard for the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation, or the acculturation of the Cherokee people into the white society.  The Cherokee people had, in fact, taken to the white ways rather easily by adopting a constitutional form of government¸ establishing a court system¸ electing their own public officials, and having their own newspaper, printed in both English and in Cherokee.

President Jackson was know for having no fondness for the Indians, and it was this hatred linked with the westward expansion of the white man and the lure of gold that caused the Enabling Acts to be passed in Georgia.  A couple of examples of these laws are:  The Cherokee people can not congregates in groups of more than three (this prohibited the tribal council from meeting, thus shutting down the government of the tribe); a Cherokee could not bring charges against a white man, nor could a Cherokee testify in a white man’s court and any non-Indian living on Indian land must sign an ‘Oath of Allegiance’ to the State of Georgia.  These laws essentially stripped the rights of the Cherokee and anyone residing with them.

In 1831 the Rev. Samuel A. Worcester refused to sign the Oath of Allegiance.  He was arrested by the Georgia Militia and hurriedly tried, convicted and sentenced.  He received four years at hard labor.  In 1832 his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices ruled in his favor, in the case Worcester vs. Georgia declaring the laws passed by the State of Georgia to be unconstitutional and ordered the release of Rev. Worcester.  President Jackson is reported to have said, “Chief Justice (John) Marshall has rendered his decision, let him enforce it.”  Upon hearing this comment by the President, the Governor of Georgia decided that he did not have to honor the ruling of the Supreme Court and kept Rev. Worcester in prison for another four months, before finally releasing him.

The Cherokee Nation under Principal Chief John Ross was constantly trying to carry on an amicable relationship and keep the lines of communication open with the government of the United States.  This was extremely difficult and required all the tact and patience that the tribal officials could muster, as the President was determined to ‘rid’ himself, as well as the states in the southeast of all the Indians living there.  The government was offering up to $1,000 per family to voluntarily move to the lands west of the Mississippi.  The majority of the Cherokee remained loyal to their ancestral homeland, to Chief Ross and the elected tribal officials.  They kept faith that the two governments would reach an equitable agreement that would permit the Cherokee to remain in their ancestral homelands.  Unfortunately, there was a small group of ‘dissident’ Cherokee tribal members who had been meeting in secret with agents of the U.S. government and even negotiated a fraudulent treaty with them.  This treaty ceded the last of the Cherokee holding in the southeastern U.S.  This group became known as the ‘Treaty Party’ or ‘Treaty Faction.’  They were led by Major Ridge (a hero of the Red Stick War of 1813), his son John Ridge, his nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie.  This so-called treaty is known as the ‘Treaty of New Echota’ and was signed about midnight by no more than 100 Cherokees on December 29, 1935.  The treaty was then sent to the U.S. Senate for ratification.

Chief Ross and his followers learned about this treaty the next day and immediately set about to circulate a petition throughout the Cherokee Nation to submit to the U.S. Senate that this so-called treaty was not the will of the people, but created only to carry out the wishes of Jackson and benefit the pockets of a dissident faction of tribal members.  The petition also stated that it was entered into in the dark of night by an unauthorized delegation.  Within two weeks the tribal officials had secured 15.655 signatures on this petition and carried it to Washington, D.C. and presented it to the U.S. Senate, in hopes that it would serve as enough evidence to stop the ratification, yet on May 23, 1836 the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of New Echota.

It had passed the Senate by only one vote.  The die had been cast as the Cherokee had two years to finalize their affairs in their homeland and either voluntarily move themselves west of the Mississippi or be forcibly removed by the Army of the United States.

Exactly two years to the day, soldiers entered the Cherokee Nation and began the round-up.  During the harsh, dry summer and freezing winter of 1838 and 1839, nearly one-fourth of the Cherokee Nation died on what was to become known as the “Trail of Tears.”  This was approximately 4,000 Cherokee (predominantly the aged, the infirmed and small children).

When this writer asked a tour director at The Hermitage - the home of Andrew Jackson (A National Historic Landmark) in Nashville, “Why did he (A. Jackson) hate the Indians so much?”  The answer he got was, “President Jackson didn’t hate the Indians, and he had them moved for their own good.”  All I can say is, "Yeah, right(!?)"

The next article is about the Cherokee Nemesis, Andrew Jackson

This article is a personal synopsis surrounding the events leading up to the forced removal of an entire Indian tribe, the Cherokee.  By order of the United States government, the Cherokee and other tribes, living in the southeastern united stated during the early 19th century, were removed from their ancestral homelands, in many cases by force.  This is written by a Cherokee citizen who sees these things through both the eyes of an Indian and an Anglo.  I mention this to avoid any embarrassment, to you the reader for the manner in which I make the following statements.

Please keep in mind that – in the eyes of the Cherokee, if you were to put President Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson in the same room with Adolph Hitler, Hitler would come much closer to wearing a halo than “Old Hickory.”  Here’s another comment explaining the total lack of esteem in which I hold, “Old Hickory”  - “I (and many others) refuse to carry a $20 bill, I don’t want a picture in my pocket of that poor excuse for a human being.”

Regardless of my low opinion of former President Jackson, I will never refer to him as Jackson, Andrew, Andy or anything other than President Jackson.  He was the President of the United States; even though he probably wasn’t eligible(1), he does deserve the title of respect that that office carries.  It’s just too bad that he won the election in 1828 and worse yet, re-elected in 1832.

Prior to learning of this era, one cannot believe that a ‘civilized’ government such as that of the United States of America could treat the indigenous people (the Indians of all tribes) the way it did.  I assure you that certain elected officials of the U.S. government have carried out some very atrocious and malicious acts under the auspices of “for the good of the people.”

When 1828 arrived, two specific events occurred, which in their finality ended nearly a thousand years of a somewhat tranquil life for the Cherokee and other tribes in the southeast.  The one, which added fuel to the removal issue or extrication of the Cherokee, was the discovery of gold by the white man, on Cherokee land, near Dahlonega, in northeastern Georgia.  It is said that the streets of Atlanta are paved with gold.  This isn’t true, but in 1958 the citizens of Dahlonega presented the State of Georgia with a gift of gold. The metal was pounded into thin sheets and attached to the top of the State House in Atlanta. The gold dome remains as a lasting symbol to the first of the gold rushes in America.

The Cherokee controlled the land in the gold region, but by 1830 more than 300 ounces a day were being produced in the area, and not by the Cherokee.  The Georgia legislature began to plan their removal almost immediately after the discovery of gold. This eventually led to the "Trail of Tears."

The other devastating event of 1828 was the election of Andrew Jackson to the Presidency of the United States of America.  His hatred of the Indians was common knowledge at that time, and he did nothing to change this perception.
Together these two events spelled doom for the Cherokee and the four other tribes (known as, The Five Civilized Tribes) of the southeast region of the U.S. – Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole.

The reason the discovery of gold would prompt ill feelings toward the true owners of the land.  Pure and simple – Greed…  but the reason for President Jackson’s hatred of the Indian is not quite as simple.  In fact, no one knows for sure why he hated the Indians so much.  During the War of 1812 and after his successes in New Orleans, he was the commander of the U.S. forces in the Red Stick Creek wars at the battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814.  His forces consisted of 600 Cherokee and Lower Creek tribal members.  During the battle General Andrew Jackson was directing the frontal attack of a Creek fortification that had been built within the projection of land created by a bend in the Tallapoosa River in eastern Alabama.  With his Lieutenant, John Ross they were directing the Cherokee attack on the rear of the fortification but were faced with crossing the river itself.  Junaluska and two other warriors swam the Tallapoosa River in the dark and took the Creek warriors' canoes in spite of gunfire from the Red Stick Creeks, which wounded one of the three Cherokee, an Indian named Whale.

This action gave Jackson the upper hand in what had been a situation stacked against him. In the ensuing battle Junaluska drove his tomahawk through the skull of a Creek warrior when the Red Stick Creek had General Jackson at his mercy.

In 1830 the Indian Removal Act became law at the urging of President Andrew Jackson who was directing the forced removal of the Cherokee from their native lands.  Chief John Ross failed to get an audience to plead their cause. At which time he, Chief Ross, asked Chief Junaluska to make an attempt to convince the President that removal to an unknown land a thousand miles away was not in the best interest of the Cherokee people. President Jackson did grant Junaluska an audience and heard his plea, but curtly ended the meeting, saying, "Sir, your audience is ended. There is nothing I can or will do for you." The fate of the Cherokee was sealed.

When the removal did eventually become a reality, Chief Junaluska looked at the terrible atrocities committed upon his people and said, "Oh my God, had I known at the battle of the Horseshoe what I know now, Jackson would not have lived."
Also in 1830 and at the urging of the President, the State of Georgia passed a series of laws called the Enabling Acts, that were without regard for the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation, or the acculturation of the Cherokee into the ‘white society.’

The Cherokee had indeed, taken rather quickly to the ways, customs and manner of the white man.  They had adopted a constitutional form of government in 1826 and had established a court system, elected their own officials to serve in the Tribal Senate and on the Tribal Council.

The Enabling Acts of 1830 essentially stripped the rights of a sovereign nation.  A couple of examples of the laws are:  A Indian can not bring charges against a white man; the Cherokee can not congregate in groups of more than three; any non-Indian residing on Indian land must sign an ‘Oath of Allegiance” to the State of Georgia. Refusal to abide by these laws was punishable by four years at hard labor.

The Reverend Samuel A. Worcester, residing within the confines of the Cherokee Nation, refused to sign this ‘oath’ and was arrested by the Georgia Militia, hurriedly tried, convicted and sentenced to 4 years at hard labor.   Finally in 1832, his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court.  Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the majority opinion declaring the laws of the State of Georgia to be unconstitutional and ordered the release of Rev. Worcester.

President Jackson, upon hearing of the ruling from highest court in the land said, “John Marshall has rendered his decision, now let him enforce it.”  As a result of the President’s refusal to abide by the Court’s ruling, the Governor of Georgia (Wilson Lumpkin) took this to mean that he did not have to abide by the ruling, either.  It was four months after the decision was handed down that the Reverend was finally released from prison.

The Cherokee Nation’s government under the leadership of Chief John Ross and his council was constantly trying to keep an amicable relationship with the government of the United States.  This was extremely difficult due to the Executive Branch’s determination to rid the southeast of the Indian element and make way for the white man to settle the lands belonging to the Indian.

The Indian agents that had been assigned to represent the U.S. in Indian country were using dubious means to entice the Indians to move west.  It even reached the point where the U.S. was offering up to $1,000 per family to move west of the Mississippi.

Most of the Cherokee (mainly the full-blooded element) remained loyal to their elected officials and desired to stay and fight for the right to remain on the lands of their fathers and grandfathers.  There was a small, yet vocal, contingent of Cherokee that were bent on selling out their land holdings and move west.  This contingent, the ‘nay-sayers’ were disruptive during meetings yelling about how they were all going to be killed if they stayed.  Some of these rantings even convinced a few of the elected officials to become dissenters, also.

Acting on behalf of President Jackson, the Commissioners of the United States, Gen. William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn met secretly (without the knowledge of the tribally elected officials) with a small (less than 100) dissident Cherokee at New Echota, Georgia on Dec. 29, 1835.  The purpose of this meeting was to ink a treaty with a delegation of Cherokee ceding the last of their lands to the U.S.   Talks went on for a few hours until finally about midnight a treaty had been reached and was signed by 20 Cherokee citizens, none of whom were authorized to act on behalf of the tribe.  This fraudulent treaty became known as ‘The Treaty of New Echota.’

Upon hearing of the nefarious action, Chief Ross and his councils immediately set about circulating a petition calling for the U.S. Senate to not ratify this fraudulent treaty.  Within three weeks Chief Ross and his supporters had secured the signatures (or marks) of 15,655 adult Cherokee.  The petition affirmed that the so-called ‘treaty’ that was secured at New Echota on the night of December 29, 1835 was not the will of the people.  This petition was taken personally by Chief Ross to Washington and presented to the United Stated Senate.

Senator Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was the Cherokee Nation’s greatest supporter and ally.  Sen. Clay immediately set out to garner support among his colleagues in the Senate to vote against ratification.   President Jackson knew of Sen. Clay’s feelings and sympathies for the Cherokee and pulled out all stops to get that treaty ratified. (2)

Ratification came before the U.S. Senate for a vote on May 23, 1836.  After a long and heated debate, a vote was taken and the treaty was ratified.  It passed by the slimmest of margins, ONE VOTE.  The fate of the Cherokee had been sealed with this ratification.  The treaty allowed for two year to pass before the Army of the United States would come in and forcibly remove the Cherokee to lands west of the Mississippi.  This period was set up so that those who wished to do so could voluntarily move westward and to finalized the affairs of the tribe in their soon to be former homelands.

The United States was so eager to get ‘rid’ of the Cherokee that, exactly two years to the day, on May 23, 1838 General Winfield Scott led 7,000-armed soldiers into the Cherokee Nation and began a mass round-up of the Cherokee.  The elderly, the infirm, the children everybody was rounded up lie cattle and thrown into numerous crude and hastily built stockades throughout the Cherokee countryside.  These stockades were designed to house them until they could be removed west.  Countless diseases spread throughout the camps, causing many unnecessary deaths among the Cherokee.

Many events led to the removal of the Cherokee from their ancestral homelands but, none of them more devastating and demoralizing than knowing that they had been betrayed by some members of their own tribe.  It has been estimated that nearly one-fourth (approximately 4,000) of the Cherokee tribe died either in the stockades or enroute to what is today Oklahoma.  This journey has since become known as the Trail where they died, or “The Trail of Tears.”
In the late 1800s an anthropologist met with a small group of Cherokee citizens that had survived the relocation process.  An elderly Cherokee lady responded to a question regarding her family during the removal, in this manner:  “During the winter of ’38 they all died.  They died on that terrible trail.  That’s where we cried, and that’s where we died.  I saw my Mother die as she was giving birth to my brother.  I saw so many die during that time.  It was so cold and there was little food and there weren’t enough blankets to keep warm.”  This somber statement, tearfully given, has defined the Cherokee’s arduous journey into the unknown as, “The Trail of Tears.”

NOTES:

(1) = There are accounts that Andrew Jackson lied about his age and place of birth. According to Allan Eckert’s The Frontiersman (1967) pp. 706-707.  “Despite claims by some biographers that Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaws District, Lancaster County, South Carolina on March 15, 1767, there is good cause to believe this to be erroneous and that Jackson was, in fact, born at sea while his parents, Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, were immigrating to America from County Antrim, Ireland, thus making him legally ineligible for the office of President of the United States, which he later assumed.”

Further information regarding this issue is in the same pages of an account of an 1819 conversation:  “Simon Kenton met Jackson only once after 1783.  This was in June 1819, when President Monroe was making his tour through the Western states.  Monroe, accompanied by General Jackson, stopped over at the home of Richard C. Anderson at Bear Grass, near Louisville, Kentucky. Marshall Anderson, son of Richard C. Anderson and brother of Governor Charles Anderson of Ohio, was present and states in his notes that while all the other gentlemen were on the porch or in another room, his father (Richard C. Anderson) and General Jackson were talking alone about matters of early history.  He stood by and listened to them and at the time his father asked this question:  “General Jackson, where were you born?”  And Jackson’s answer, immediately given, was:  “I was born at sea.”  In view of these comments recorded at the time by persons not in contact with one another, there is very good reason to believe that Andrew Jackson was not a native American and that his age has been altered by twelve years; that he was not, in fact, born after his father’s death, nor was he born in South Carolina, but instead was born in a ship at sea in 1755, the year his parents were immigrating from Ireland to America, and this birth occurred either three days before it reached American soil.  It is probable that when Jackson became an important American figure militarily and politically, he realized that his foreign birth made him constitutionally ineligible for the Presidency and so, to overcome this, thereafter gave his birth date as being twelve years after he was actually born.  This would indeed clarify many puzzling discrepancies about where Andrew Jackson was and what he was doing during the early years of his life.”

(2)  = In the 1832 Federal election, Andrew Jackson defeated Henry Clay for the Presidency.

This next article deals with endurance / adaptability of the Cherokee

  Just after the beginning of the 19th Century, the Cherokee people were a tribe of both mixed bloods and full-bloods.  Each with his own idea about what was best for the tribe as a whole.  Until 1828 the Cherokee had had on one person as the Head, or Principal, Chief.  They only had town chiefs and clan chiefs.  It became apparent that the influences of the white man were more than they could handle without some form of an organized governmental entity representing their interests.  It wasn’t until 1828 that they finally elected their first Principal Chief, John Ross.

 Prior to the advent of the white man, the Cherokee were living south of the Ohio River and east of the Tennessee River, on lands where their ancestors had lived and were buried, lands where they were to be buried, and remain until the Spirit called to join those who had gone before.  The Cherokee believed that life was simple, and that only people other than they tended to complicate it.  It was (and still is by most true traditionalists) believed that if you walk the ‘White Path’ you will soon be with the Spirit (God) in a place where you shall be forever be at peace.

Before the whites, and in some cases, even today, the Cherokee lived in a matrilineal society.  There are seven Cherokee clans to which everybody belonged.  The clans are:  A-ni-gi-lo-hi (Long Hair or Twister); A-ni-sa-ho-ni (Blue or Blue Paint); A-ni-wa-ya (Wolf); A-ni-ga-ta-ge-wi (Wild Potato or Savannah); A-ni-ka-wi (Deer); A-ni-tsi-kwa (Bird) and A-ni-wo-di (Paint of Red Paint).  No one was permitted to marry within his or her own clan.  Once a marriage took place the young man would leave his home and go live with his wife’s clan.  The women owned the property and held equal footing with the men on all decisions affecting the raising of the family.  The women were also permitted and encouraged to take part in the council meetings.  This made the Cherokee more attuned to the needs of each other and made for a much more harmonious way of life.  This lifestyle was disrupted, forever, when the white man came on the scene.

The Cherokee were a peace loving race and only fought to defend what was theirs or when provoked beyond reason.  Once engaged in a fight the Cherokee were an extremely fierce opponent.  Between the time of the arrival of the Europeans and the 1820s, the Cherokee people endured more than their share of infringements, fraudulent treaties, greed and treachery.  The Cherokee tried to continue to persevere and raise their families as they and their ancestors had been raised.  But it wasn’t to be.  All the Cherokee wanted was to be left alone to raise their children in the ‘old way’ as traditions had shown them.
The coming of the white man to the lands of the Indians brought many changes to their way of life.  The Europeans began to intermarry with the Indians and have children.  This caused many new problems for a people who had (since the beginning of time) had no disease, no greed, and no natural enemies.  Not that the white man were in Indian country, they brought disease, insatiable greed, especially for land.  They caused feuds between tribes and started little wars, which eventually grew into major conflicts.

John Ross, the son of a Scotsman and a ¼ blood Cherokee maiden was chosen as the first elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1828.  Ross’ father was farsighted enough to realize that education was the key to the future.
Therefore Ross received his training by private tutors and at the Kingston Academy in southeast Tennessee.  Growing up in an Anglo-Indian world, he was no stranger to the situation, as it existed among his people.  True, he was by blood, only 1/8 Cherokee, but his heart and mind was totally Cherokee.  His Mother allowed him to wear the traditional clothing of the Cherokee on special occasions.  This helped to instill in him a pride in the Indian way and the realization that the Cherokee must retain their integrity.  This meant, in his opinion, that the leadership of the tribe must obtain the education necessary to take the Cherokee people into the future in the land, with it’s new people, the whites.  This also meant that the Cherokee would have to deal with the laws passed by the white man.  Early in his life he gained the respect and support of the full-blood and most of the mixed bloods, too.  Ross had been a most ardent supporter of the cause of the Cherokee for over fifteen years by the time he was elected Principal Chief.

In 1816, he accepted his first appointment as a delegate to Washington, D.C.  This followed a fact-finding mission to the Cherokee living in the west in 1809.  That mission on behalf of Chief Pathkiller made him realize that he was dedicated to the goal of uniting his people.  His career of service spanned six decades only ending with his death on August 1, 1866.  He constantly worked for the advancement and protection of his beloved Cherokee Nation, and was doing so at the time of his passing.  Chief Ross, practically on his deathbed, was a staunch supporter of not dividing the tribe, after the War Between the States, as advocated by the Southern Cherokee led by Stand Watie.  Ross used every means at his disposal to press the Union faction’s cause to stop a treaty to sever the tribe.  This final negotiation by the stalwart Chief of the Cherokee Nation and the U.S. government cost the tribe the loss of certain rights, but it was by far the most lenient of the reconstruction treaties negotiated by any Indian tribe in Indian Territory.  Most important to Chief Ross, was that the integrity of the tribe was maintained and the Cherokee Nation remained one tribe.  Sadly, he passed away before the treaty was finalized, but he had the knowledge of its consummation.

Once John Ross became Principal Chief, he set about to persuade the governments of Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina to negotiate an equitable treaty that would allow the Indians to remain on their ancestral lands.  At every turn he met strong opposition.  Shortly after he became Principal Chief his people were driven out of Tennessee.  They, and he, moved to the area round Rome, Georgia, where within a few months Ross and a delegation of Cherokee were in Washington City when word came down that gold had been discovered on Cherokee land in northeast Georgia, near Dahlonega.  Georgia immediately annexed all of the land around where the gold was discovered.  This caused Chief Ross to protest to President Andrew Jackson, that that land had been promised to the Cherokee, ‘forever.’  Georgia confiscated the Cherokee lands anyway.  This laid the groundwork for the Enabling Acts of 1830, which severely affected the life for the Cherokee for the rest of their time in that state.

Chief Ross was becoming increasingly more aware that with a man like Andrew Jackson in the White House, that the future of the Cherokee in their ancestral homeland was shaky, at best.  Jackson, known for his hatred of the Indians, was not the person that any Indian wanted in the Presidency.  His election spelled disaster for the Cherokee. All they had to look forward to was to try and ‘hang on’ until the elections of 1832, when there might be a candidate more sympathetic to the plight of the Indians living in the southeast.  Their faith in and support of Henry Clay gave the Cherokee a false sense of victory, and caused them to ignore the rumblings within their own boundaries.

A small band of Cherokee had agreed to try and convince the rest of the tribe to ‘sell out’ their lands and move west, beyond the great Mississippi River.  Through much treachery and avarice this group, known as the Treaty Party’, headed by Major Ridge, John Ridge, Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie made plans to secrete a treaty.  One which if presented to the Senate in Washington would be ratified without difficulty.

These so-called leaders met in secret with the Commissioners of the U.S. Gen. William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn to set up a time and place to meet and ink a treaty ceding the remaining lands in the east to the government.

Even though several years before, the tribal council had passed a law, referred to as the Blood Law, which stated that anyone signing over any additional land without consent of the tribal government would be executed.  The Ridges, Boudinot and Watie were fully aware of this ‘Blood Law’ when they signed the “Treaty of New Echota.”  In fact Major Ridge is reported as having said as he signed the treaty, “I am signing my own death warrant.”  Parties unknown executed Major Ridge, Elias Boudinot and John Ridge in the early morning hours of June 22, 1939 after arrival in Indian Territory.  Stand Watie was wounded, but survived.  Upon hearing of the executions, Chief Ross asked those around him, “How much must we endure?”

Next is about the Voice of the People, John Ross

With the beginning of the 19th century in America, we witnessed the emergence of an Indian leader who served his people for over fifty years (longer than any other tribal leader in history).

John Ross, known as Cooweescoowee, (Great White Bird) by his people, the Cherokee, was only one-eighth Cherokee by blood, but his heart and soul was totally Cherokee.  His Father like his Grandfather on his Mother’s side was born in Scotland – as was his Great grandfather on his Grandmother’s side, thus making him 7/8 Scottish.  John Ross, a remarkable man, was educated at the Kingston Academy and by private tutors.  He learned quickly the ways of the white man and knew that in order for his people to survive in this ‘new’ world, they would have to become educated in the manner of the more affluent of the whites.

Ross, elected the first Principal Chief of the Cherokee in 1828, was re-elected every four years for the next forty years.  He died while in Washington, D.C. conducting tribal business on August 1, 1866.  Ross - compactly built, slender man with light brown hair, high cheekbones, medium height and extremely meticulous about his dress - had seen the tragic removal of his people coming for quite some time.  He had been negotiating for over ten years with the various states in which the Cherokee lived as well as the U.S. government officials.  All the negotiations by him and tribal officials had pretty much gone for naught, as the white man wanted the lands that the Cherokee lived on, and nothing would stop them in their quest.

Culmination of garnering the last of the Cherokee land holdings came as a result of a fraudulent treaty ceding the last of the tribal lands to the U.S. was entered into by a dissident group of Cherokee (not authorized to act on behalf of the tribe) and Commissioners on the part of the United States, Gen. William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn.  Only 20 dissidents of nearly 100 signed this ‘Treaty of New Echota’ in attendance near midnight on December 29, 1835.
Upon hearing of this illegal action, Chief Ross immediately set about to circulate a petition throughout the Nation indicating that the document signed at New Echota was not the will of the Cherokee people.  The tribal officials collected a total of 15,655 adult signatures that did not want to give up their homelands.  This petition was hand carried to Washington City to present to Senators supportive to the causes of the Indians tribes of the southeastern U.S to vote down the ratification.  The strongest advocate of the Cherokee in the Senate was Henry Clay of Kentucky.  Unfortunately Sen. Clay was unsuccessful in mustering support among his colleagues to stop the treaty from being ratified.  On May 23, 1836, the U.S. Senate, passing by the smallest of margins – one vote, ratified the Treaty of New Echota.

With the passing of this treaty, the die had been cast for the Cherokee people living in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina.  Under the terms of the treaty the Cherokee had just two years to finalize their affairs and move the nearly 1000 miles west to join those who had signed the treaty and those who’d already moved west.  If they failed to move voluntarily the army of the United States would come in and forcibly move them.

May 23, 1838, (two years to the date after ratification of the Treaty of New Echota) Chief Ross saw 7,000 armed soldiers swoop down upon the Cherokee and begin rounding up his people, putting them into stockades throughout the (Cherokee) Nation, where they were kept under armed guard until time for their removal west.  The lands west of the Mississippi River (later to become Oklahoma) was to be the new home for the ‘Five Civilized Tribes’ (Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole).

It was Chief Ross’ dream that the Cherokee, considered the most highly civilized of all the American Indian tribes, could blend their way with the white man’s, and that they could live peaceably side by side.  Ross’ heartbreak over that failure spills out in his writings.  Ross tells how his people had believed in one American treaty after another, only to see it broken.  The Cherokee had fought for America, only to be cast out as foreigners.  In 1834, chief Ross wrote, “There is no security for our permanent residence anywhere else within the United States and the only alternative left us will be to seek homes within the dominion of some other power.  Our existence as an independent nation is drawing to a close.”

With musket and bayonets at their backs, the Cherokee – like the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole were pushed, kicked prodded and thrown out of their ancestral homes and herded towards an unknown fate in the land of the setting sun.  That was (for the Cherokee) the winter of 1838-39.  No one knows exactly how many lives were lost during this turbulent period, later to be labeled “The Trail of Tears,” but most estimates place the losses near the 4,000 mark.  No one was immune from the problems facing them as they slowly headed west.  The crippled, the elderly, infants and the sickly died by the hundreds on this murderous march over snow, ice, frozen rivers and roads that pathetic exodus.  It has been passed down to the current generations that each evening between fifteen and twenty Cherokee citizens had to be buried at the stopping place for that day.  It is also said that if you were to re-trace the “Trail of Tears” that you would find the grave of a Cherokee about every hundred yards all the way from east Tennessee to what is now northeastern Oklahoma.  Every Cherokee family was affected by this forced removal.  Chief Ross suffered personal losses in his immediate family.  First, a granddaughter, Victoria (daughter of Allen and Jennie Fields Ross) was born then died a few days later.  Then he suffered the loss of his beloved wife, Quatie.

This “Trail of Tears” took many paths to reach their destination.  Some were overland and others were by various waterways.  The major water route started on the Little Hiwassee just outside of Charleston, Tennessee about half way between Charleston and Calhoun.  Lewis Ross (Chief John’s brother) was the Treasurer of the Cherokee Nation and the river landing was just a half-mile from his home in Charleston.  This route would meander through the Little Hiwassee into the Hiwassee then into the Tennessee River, up through Nashville.  They then went down river on the Ohio River to the Mississippi.  Upon reaching the mouth of the Arkansas River they turned upstream and went as far as was navigable, which was at Ft. Smith.

The last contingent to leave was the group that included Chief Ross and his family.  Upon arrival in Nashville, where Andrew Jackson lived some of the more vocal tribal members onboard the boat wanted to go to his home and destroy it, with him in it.  Fortunately, Chief Ross caught wind of the idea and put a stop to it before anything could develop.  Jackson had been a formidable adversary, one whose actions caused him to become the most hated person in the world insofar as the Cherokee were concerned. It seemed to the Cherokee that Jackson’s loyalty would lay in whichever direction the wind was blowing at the time.  Sometimes he was a States Rightist and others a Nationalist.  Many Cherokee including Chief Ross had served under General Jackson when he was in command of the U.S. forces during the Red Stick Creek War of 1813.  When Jackson became President, some of the Cherokee, erroneously, felt they could rely on him to help them in their plight against the states of Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama due to his former alliance with the Cherokee.  Sadly, they were mistaken.  The worst thing about the removal was the fact that Jackson, as President, had stripped them of the land that had been theirs for centuries before the white man ever came to the North American continent.

Even today, many Cherokee refuse to carry a twenty-dollar bill due to the picture on it.

John Ross became involved with the tribal government, or lack of it, at an early age.  Having been born in 1790 at Turkeytown, Alabama at the head of the Coosa River (near present day Center, Alabama).  He was the son of Daniel Ross and Mary “Molly” McDonald.  Daniel, a Scotsman that had married into the Cherokee tribe, was a prosperous businessman that owned the river crossing on the Tennessee River at the foot of Lookout Mountain.  This crossing became known as Ross’ Landing.  In 1837 the name was changed to Chattanooga.

John’s mother felt that it important that he be raised in the traditional manner of the Cherokee and his father felt that he should receive the best education available and become a leader of the Cherokee by having knowledge of both worlds.  Young John took to ‘book learning’ easily and became quite eloquent in his ability to compose letters and prepare speeches.  Young John was better educated than many Governors and even Presidents that he corresponded with in the ensuing years.  The letters written by Ross to such notables as James Monroe, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and John Howard Payne deepen the understanding of one of the saddest episodes in American History.  Ross chose to use his education to help his people, the Cherokee.  He began his lifelong involvement with tribal politics about 1808-09.  This was about the same time that a half Cherokee and half German named George Guess, or as he’s better known – Sequoyah, began work on developing a written language for his people.  The Cherokee called this system ‘Talking Leaves.’  Shortly after he completed and perfected the syllabary, almost the entire tribe became literate in their own native tongue.  The very first Cherokee newspaper was published at New Echota, Georgia on Thursday, February 21, 1828.  This first issue of The Cherokee Phoenix contained all the laws governing the Cherokee written in both Cherokee and English.

With the help of John Ross and the more educated Cherokee, they were able to devise their own constitution, set up their own court system, and establish churches and schools.  According to various historians the Cherokee people could have become a very rare example of how an indigenous people could receive much solid profit from the coming of the white man, were it not for their insatiable greed and utter lawlessness.  The white man’s greed had in only 115 years reduced the size of the Cherokee Nation by over 80%.  Before the advent of the white man the Cherokee held dominion over lands stretching west to the Tennessee River, north to the Ohio River, east at far as the great Kanawha River down to the Blue Ridge in Virginia and the Catawba River in North Carolina, the Wateree River and South Fork of the Edisto River in South Carolina around to the Savannah River.  The boundary quit following rivers in Georgia and took to boundaries established between the Creeks and the Cherokee in 1830 by Gen. Coffee.  The area mentioned above was as far south as Stone Mountain and Marrieta, Georgia.  The southwestern boundary reached from the Coosa River to Flat Rock, Alabama by Little Bear Creek, then north to the Tennessee River.  Between the Cherokee and various states/territories were thirty-five treaties between 1721 and 1835, each taking a bigger and bigger bite of the Cherokee ancestral lands.  All this taking culminated with the Treaty of New Echota being the final cession of the last of the Cherokee lands.

Three years before John Ross’ birth, one of the elders in the tribe, Hanging Maw, wrote of his dissatisfaction with the broken promises of the white man’s treaties.  A letter of his to Joseph McMinn (Indian Agent & later Governor of Tennessee) stated, “We have held several treaties with the Americans, when fair promises was always made that the white people should not come over our boundary.  But we always find that after a treaty, the white people settle much faster than before.”  Hanging Maw, much like John Ross, warned the Cherokee of the treachery of the white man.  The British, the Spanish and the French all eager to keep trouble stirred up among the Indian tribes of the southeast against the Americans, had been telling the Cherokee that the Americans only wanted to deceive them and take their lands.

It seemed that the Americans, too were telling the same things about the British, the Spanish and the French.  Further telling them to ignore what they were being told by these people from across the ocean.  The Governor of Virginia in 1782, Benjamin Harrison, even wrote to the Cherokee, “They told you lies to draw you away from your brothers, the Americans.  We trust you will never more listen to their idle tales, because we love you, because we are natives of the same country and expect in time to become one people.”

It was that promise that led John Ross and the majority of the full-bloods to appear more hopeful.  Ross grew up in the belief that brotherly love would solve the problems.

In 1809 at the age of 19, John Ross was assigned his first official task for his people.  The U.S. Indian Agent, Return Jonathan Meigs, sent him on a mission to the Cherokee who had already moved west.  From that time on, Ross fought for the right of the Cherokee to live on their own lands.  At the same time he advocated strict loyalty to the United States, even to assisting them in their war against the Red Stick Creeks in 1813.  The full-blood element of the Cherokee felt that with the education of John Ross and his being 7/8 Scottish (white) that he would be able to fight for the cause of the Cherokee, and win their right to live out their lives in the traditional homelands of their ancestors.  They felt that he could make the white man keep his promise if anyone could.  Ross’ work for his people kept him in Washington much of the time, a goodly portion of his correspondence was written from hotels there.  If one were to write to him, all they would have to do would be to address it to, “John Ross, Washington” as that was the only address necessary to reach him.

Ross’ brother, Lewis, had operated a store on the Tennessee River at Ross’ Landing until about the time that John was elected Principal Chief in 1828.  It was at this time that the ‘good citizens’ of Tennessee had the Cherokee pushed from within the boundaries of ‘their’ state.  It was then that John Ross took his family into Georgia, near what is now Rome, and erected a beautiful home for his beloved Quatie.

A year later, Ross wrote to the Secretary of War to remind him of the monies promised the Cherokee in return for moving off their Tennessee lands.  This money had been earmarked for schools.  And according to Ross, young Indians were growing up in ignorance while they waited for the government to send the money owed.

That same year, Ross wrote to Governor William Carroll of Tennessee to assure him that in spite of all the disappointments, there was no change in the Cherokee attitude toward the United States.  “No people could be found in the United States who would, in case of actual war, prove to be more loyal to the cause of the United States than the Cherokee.  Yourself, as well as the President (Jackson), have witnessed this fact during the late war (1813).”

Even though the Cherokee people knew that President Jackson was dedicated to removing all Indians from the lands in the southeast to lands west of the Mississippi River to what is now Oklahoma, Ross and his followers had proclaimed that their answer would always be, “Never!”

This article gives you information about the Dawes Commission
Indian Lands/Lives Changed ~ Forever

The last two decades of the 19th century brought a devastating change to the everyday life in the Indian Nations across America.  The Congress of the United States passed the General Allotment Act of 1887, which was the first step in preparation for the eventuality of statehood for Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory.  The Dawes Act and the Curtis Act of 1898 insured that there would be no more tribal ownership of land.  These lands were to be allotted to individual tribal members.

When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, land, which had been held in common by the tribes, was to be allotted to individual tribal members.  Think about that for a minute.  Just how much real estate sense do you think these new landowners (the Indians) had?  Having never owned land before they now had to deal with ownership, plus the buying and selling of land. The more traditional Indians believed (and believe) in the concept that - No man has the right to own land.  This is God's land and if we wish to live on a particular plot of land, then we should have the right to do so.  If we want to build a house on this land, then so be it.  But to own land, no way.  Only God has the right to own land.  It was the Indian's ignorance of real estate that gave the, greedy, white 'land developers' a very strong foothold on Indian lands after statehood.  This is one reason that within fifteen years of statehood, there were over a hundred white attorneys living in Muskogee, Oklahoma and the majority of them were millionaires - all due to their taking advantage of the Indians, and hood-winking 'em out of their lands.

The Dawes Act was named for Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts.  He was considered, by those in the know, in Washington to be an authority on the American Indian.  Of course, our tribal leaders of Indian Territory didn't have any problem with this.  We held (and hold) firm to the tenet that an 'authority' on the American Indian should come from Massachusetts, or Washington, D.C.

In 1887, the General Allotment Act - known as the Dawes Act, was approved and set aside the Indian landholding system of title to tribal territory vested in the Indian Nation and substituted the system of private, individual, fee-simple ownership of the land.

The President of the United States directed the survey of each Indian Nation and reservation, the preparation of tribal rules and the assignment of an allotment of acres to each family head, single persons under 18 and orphans under 18, and to other single persons under 18.  This Act also conferred United States citizenship upon each allottee.
Exempted from the Act were the lands of the Seneca Nation of New York and the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Osage, Sac & Fox, Miami and Peoria tribes of Indian Territory (Oklahoma).

The central and western portions of Indian Territory were subject to liquidation and the Commission was assigned the task of negotiating allotment contracts with the tribes.  They were to prepare allotment rolls, supervise, survey and register allotment selected by native enrollees or assign allotments to those who refused to participate.

In 1902, the Kiowa leader, Lone Wolf, lost a suit against the Secretary of the Interior to keep him from taking tribal land and converting it to public use.

In 1898, Congress passed the Curtis Act, which abolished tribal governments, requiring the citizens of the abolished Indian Nations to submit to allotment, instituted civil government for the Territory and provided a guide for statehood.
Essentially what the U.S. government was saying was, "You Indians don't have a tribal government to represent you anymore. So if you have a complaint bring it before the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and they'll help you resolve it."   YEAH, RIGHT?!?!?!?!

One access to Indian land in the allotting process was through tribal rolls and one became eligible for allotments of land by marriage to Indians, by adoption into the tribes and by claiming Indian descent.

Cherokees, Choctaws, Seminoles, Creeks and Chickasaws had been slaveholders before the War Between the States.  Reconstruction treaties required these tribes to confer tribal citizenship upon their former slaves.

Over 400,000 persons claimed Indian descent, or as former slaves of these tribes.  Indian leaders formed tribal citizenship commissions, examined all applicants’ qualifications and rejected 75% of the claimants.  Only 101,000 persons were deemed eligible.

The Act was in effect until 1934 and liquidated the reservations and nations of 67 tribes of the Indian Territory, land of the Kickapoos and Potawatomis in Kansas, the Sioux in Nebraska and the Dakotas, the Cheyenne and Arapahos in Wyoming, the Gros Ventres and Blackfeet in Montana, Jicarilla Apaches in New Mexico, Mohaves of the Colorado River, several Pacific Northwest tribes including the Yakimas, Nez Perces and Spokanes, and certain Pima bands in the desert Southwest.

America had an insatiable appetite for Indian land and they demanded a share in that final partitioning of the tribal estates as the surplus lands surrendered to homesteading.

Non-Indians shared in allotment through marriage, adoption and claim of Indian or freeman descent.  When Congress repealed the General Allotment Act in 1934, Indians were in possession of less that one-third of their original allotted lands.
Native Americans are bringing suits to the Indian Court of Claims to obtain compensation for lands appropriated after 1887.  They are also suing, in federal court, for restitution of tracts of tribal lands by federal agents for public and private use.
This methodical decimation of life on tribal lands, that were originally 'owned' by the tribes - as a whole, was quite probably the most cataclysmic phenomenon displaying man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

The belief of most traditional Indians, or in today's vernacular - Native Americans, is that all things are interwoven.  Man is tied to the earth, as are the animals.  Anthropologists have been studying the various Indian tribes for years, and publishing reports about their 'in depth studies' (which may have taken six or eight months - or moons in white man talk).  Some people still try to convince themselves that statehood for Oklahoma was good for the American Indian.  In the words of a cousin (who was almost twenty years old in 1907) when asked about statehood -- "It weren't good!  It weren't good!"  It makes one wonder if it weren't good then, just how good is it today??  This is a lot like President Andrew Jackson saying that he advocated the removal of the Southeastern tribes to Indian Territory - "for their own good."

President Jackson was a most ardent supporter of removal and essentially drew up the plans for removal, himself.  He used every method at his disposal to insure that his plans were carried out.    The Indians of the southeast were (for all intents and purposes) doomed before they even started to comply with the dictates of the white man.  All of President Jackson's removal efforts came to fruition after he left office and President Van Buren was in office.  A tragedy for those sympathetic to the plight of the Indians unfolded in the latter part of the 1830s with the forced removal of over 50,000 Indians.

NOTE:  Between ten and twelve thousand members of the Five Civilized Tribes - Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations died as a direct result of President Jackson's -- trying to do something "For their own good."

1    Portions reprinted from "The Centennial Legacy of the General Allotment Act" by Arell Morgan Gibson - Chronicles of Oklahoma, Fall, 1987.

The last is about the Sacred Fire of the Keetoowah Society
{(Please do NOT confuse the Keetooway Society with the United Keetoowah Band...
The Keetoowah Society is religious and the UKB is governmental,
they are NOT the same.)}

In the days when America was ‘discovered’ and the early missionaries came among the Indians of the western hemisphere, they found the “Sacred Fire” with the Iroquois, and various other tribes in what was to become southeastern United States.  One of these tribes was the Cherokee.  In addition to the “Sacred Fire” the ceremony was called the ‘Stomp Dance’, which is observed in modern times much as it was in the beginning.

Exactly how long prior to the missionaries arrival this ceremony was practiced is anyone’s guess, since there was not recorded history, as we know it today.  Some of today’s elder traditionalists will say it’s been around for a thousand years and others will say that it’s been around since the beginning of creation.

The early history of the “Sacred Fire” is shrouded in mystery as the only method of relating specific events was through word of mouth through countless generations. This may have been cause for some variations in how each tribe recalls the creation and other specifics regarding early ceremonies and or traditions.

There is one particular item of interest in the recorded religious history of the southeastern Indians.  It was reported by the early missionaries among the Iroquois, Cherokee and other tribes, that they were found worshipping the sun, moon and stars as gods and Great Spirits in early days.  They also found that these Indians had a story circulating throughout their respective tribes, which was remarkably similar to the accounts of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.

THE CREATION

“Yehowa” (note the similarity to the Biblical name of Jehovah) they (the Cherokee) said, created the earth and all things in six days, and rested on the seventh.  This day was devoted to religious worship.  Yehowa made the first man of red clay, (an Indian) and made woman from one of his ribs.  They multiplied and all were the Indians. As time passed they all had learned of the wicked and sinful ways of the flesh and mind.  They were warned by the prophets of a coming flood, which would cleanse the earth of such thoughts and deeds.  This flood would destroy all living beings.  They did not heed the word of the prophets, and the Creator directed one man to build a boat¸ take his family and a male and female of each of the animals, birds and insects into it.  When this man had this done, the rains came.  It rained for forty days and forty nights.  Water came out of the ground, and the earth was completely covered.  As the water rose, the boat was raised and floated about the earth for many days.  Those on board began to wonder when and where they would find land.  The man sent out a raven to hopefully find land and return.  The raven did not return.  The then sent out a dove, it eventually returned with a dry leaf in its mouth.  The boat took its direction from this dove and finally landed atop a high mountain.  The waters receded and the man, his family and all animals, birds and insects came out onto dry land.  The world and everything they had once known was completely different.  All life made a new start.

The Indians also had a story handed down throughout countless years, of a man who took his family and his dog onto a large raft made of logs and was able to survive the great flood.

The Indians also told stories that paralleled the Biblical accounts of Abraham (Aquehami) and Moses (Wesi).  Where they first obtained these stories will never be known.  Some historians have claimed that long ago, land extended across the Atlantic Ocean, from Europe to America and that all of the original people on the western hemisphere came by land.  Another story is that the land was connected through what is the Bering Strait (connecting Asia with what is now Alaska.  Yet another accepted version is that Christ lived and walked among the Indians of this continent at about the same time as He was in the Middle East.  If it is true that those who first came brought with them Biblical stories, then they were handed down from one generation to another for thousands of years – long after that connecting strip of land had sunk below the surface of the Atlantic.

Due to the fact that the only method of learning the stories of our ancestry was through word of mouth, we tend to not put much faith in their validity.  In the Indian community you will find that as we sit and talk around a campfire or the riverbank, that the same story may be told several times.  The more that you hear the same story, the more apt you will become to tell the story in as exact manner as the one who originally told the story the first time.  Does this sound familiar?  Like the way you learn in school – by Rote?

The Indian stories (as told around campfires, etc.) also had a Trinity  [U-ha-he-ta-qua, A-ta-no-ti and U-squa-hu-la] very similar to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of the Christian religions.  All of the Indians spoke of angels who came from heaven as messengers of the Creator.

A basic part of the religious beliefs of the Cherokee and other Indians as observed by the early day missionaries, was the ceremonies of the “Sacred Fire.”  Some of the mysteries and deep religious significance of this ceremony are being pieced together here in written form, possibly for the first time.  Some historians have touched, lightly, upon the religious concept of the “Sacred Fire,” but none with the vigor, knowledge and enthusiasm as this writer.
 
 

THE FIRST FIRE

Not long after the beginning of creation, the Great Spirit, Giver and Preserver of all life, left His throne in heaven and came among the Indian people.  He looked over each of the tribes and selected four men, each strong, healthy and without blemish.  Each brave had moral, good and true of strong and sincere religious convictions with a firm belief in the Great Spirit. Translated into English, the men were named: Red, Blue, Black and Yellow.  Each representing one of the principal directions of the Four Winds – Blue to the north, Red to the east, Yellow to the south and Black to the west.

You may notice that the straight lines between them formed a cross.  Each man was given a straight wooden stick and he was directed to place one end of the stick on some item, which would burn, keeping the other end in his hand.  He would then start rotating the sticks in a circular motion, thus causing this flammable object to catch fire.
As soon as this was done and all sticks were aflame, they were to go to the center of the cross, and there the four were to start one fire to become, and for all time be “Sacred Fire” started and directed by and under the direction of the Great Spirit.

To keep the Fire alive it was necessary to add slow burning wood and covered it with ashes.  How long this was done, no one is able to say.  It may have been many thousands of years ago, but it has always been a tradition among Indians to keep this “Sacred Fire” alive for all time to come.

The Great Spirit charged the Chief of the Tribe with the responsibility of keeping this fire constantly alive as a symbol or representation of the Great Spirit.  This “Sacred Fire” was to be considered as a part of the Great Spirit.  Because of the many duties that this would leave upon the Chief, assistant Chiefs were selected and also a Firekeeper and assistant Firekeepers who were charged and for all time been charged, with the duty of keeping the “Sacred Fire” alive.
 
 

FIRE STILL BURNS

When the Cherokee from Georgian, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama were forced from their homelands and herded westward over what was to become known as the infamous “Trail of Tears” (a very black chapter in the history of America), the vigilant and faithful Firekeeper and his assistants, despite severe hardships and outside forces, kept the “Sacred Fire” alive, and brought it with them to what is now Oklahoma.  It is a matter of tribal history that this “Sacred Fire” has been alive constantly since the Cherokee arrived in the 1830s.

There is one Principal Fire, recognized as the center or headquarters of observance of the religious ceremony, which involves thanksgiving prayers, feasting and dancing.  Subordinate Fires, taken from the Principal Fire, have been established and located at many different places among the tribe.  Since 1902 the Principal Fire has been at the Ceremonial Grounds of the Redbird Smith’s Nighthawk Keetoowah Society on Moonshine Road in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma about four miles north and a mile and a half west of Vian, Oklahoma, just off Hwy 82.

While there is no fixed time for observance of the religious ceremonies connected with the “Sacred Fire”, most activities occur when the most people will be available to attend, and at night.  The Chief and his council, made up of medicine workers selected by the clans determine the time and places for holding these ceremonies.  They may be held once or twice a year or as many times as the Chief and Council may decide.  The meals are ready to be served by noon, then stickball in the afternoon and the dancing at night.  The dance may last well into the early hours of morning, depending on how many leaders are present.  Today the major times of meetings are on 19th of July to celebrate the birthday of Redbird Smith & Sequoyah, and the second Tuesday of September calls together the clans for the annual meeting.
 
 

THE GROUNDS

When properly maintained the ceremonial grounds take on an aura of an Indian campground with plenty of shade and water, laughter, talk and games.  Children playing, adults reminiscing of their youth and relating to any who will listen stories of their families and friends.  Most of this is in the Cherokee language, but if there are those present who do not talk Cherokee, they may decide to speak in English, or they may not.

In the center of the grounds is a round dirt mound and some slow burning wood, e.g. Hickory logs which are placed at this hallowed place to ignite the “Sacred Fire.”  This fire will be kept burning by the Firekeepers all the time of the meeting.  The ashes will maintain their life by being fed by the Firekeepers.  This ‘feeding’ consists of taking a white fowl – usually a small chicken, in a sacrificial offering to the Great Spirit through His “Sacred Fire.”  This sacrifice to the “Sacred Fire” represents to the Cherokee the most visible, living emblem and personification of the Great Spirit, The Creator and Father who along has the power to give life and take life.  The sacrifice, despite many false stories and misconceptions, is a very solemn and most sacred sacrifice to God, The Great Spirit The Creator.

Once the sacrifice is entirely consumed by the Fire, during which time solemn prayer is continued.  The people begin to dance around the Fire.  Please keep in mind that this is not primarily a ceremony for fun, levity and hilarity.  While harmless games and dances are indulged in, it is first and foremost a religious gathering and ceremony.  The participants dance joyfully and prayerfully to the rhythm of their song, the rattling gourds, and the terrapin shells filled with gravel attached to the ankles of the women as they dance.

The tending of the “Sacred Fire” is the duty of the Firekeeper and his assistants, who have been selected for that purpose and are generally appointed to this position for life.  At the top of the mound, laid in the form of the Cross, are four short (18”-24” in length) round logs pointing from the center of the Fire to the four Principal Directions, to represent the four original Indians selected by the Great Spirit to start the “Sacred Fire.”  Close to the east side of the mound, toward the rising sun is the Firekeeper’s wooden stick or iron rod.  This is used to remove ashes and examine the Fire to be sure that it is alive at all times.

Around the mound containing the “Sacred Fire” are seven arbors representing the Seven Clans of the Cherokee Nation.  These arbors are arranged in a circle around the Fire Mound.  This circle is about 100’ in diameter.   The arbors are generally built of rough poles as uprights about 10’ high and they support a roof of boughs, small poles and leafy branches.  Underneath each arbor on the ground are split, hewed or round logs to be used as seats for visitors and participants in the ceremonies.  Like a church this is the permanent equipment and structure for the most sacred religious ceremony of the Cherokee.  It is referred to as a place for religious worship and/or a camp meeting ground.
In addition to the established materials at the Ceremonial Grounds there are a few items, which are not necessarily needed but come in handy in this ‘modern age.’  Some of these items are a barbeque pit, a stand to serve drinks, boards or split logs to cut the meat on and tables to serve from.  There just might be a microwave available on certain days.

SEVEN CLANS

No one can specifically give the origin of the clans of the various Indian tribes with any certainty, but it is generally accepted that they originated with the larger families.  The Cherokee have been a matrilineal society as far back as can be determined, and each individual derives his/her clan from the Mother.  If the Mother was non-Indian then the clan is the same as the Father’s Mother.  It was forbidden to marry within the same clan.  Today, this is not enforced as in the past, but it is known throughout the Indian community that you should not marry someone of your clan.  The reasons for this are to keep the bloodline as pure as possible.  Legends tell us that when the inter-marriages within the same clan were still prohibited, it was common for the elders to live well past the century mark.

The seven clans of the Cherokee are {clockwise from the East}:  A-ni-gi-lo-hi (Long Hair or Twister); A-ni-sa-ho-ni (Blue or Blue Paint); A-ni-wa-ya (Wolf); A-ni-ga-ta-ge-wi (Wild Potato or Savannah); A-ni-ka-wi (Deer); A-ni-tsi-kwa (Bird) and  A-ni-wo-di (Paint of Red Paint).  These Seven Clans select their own Medicine Worker, and they form the Medicine Council.  They choose the Medicine Chief from among their midst.
BIBLICAL SIMILARITIES
Exactly how the Cherokee obtained the lessons that are portrayed in the Bible, and incorporated them into their ceremonial work, will probably never be traced to its true origin.  We’ve already mentioned the kinship with Moses and Abraham.  No doubt they knew something of Aaron (Moses brother).  The early Cherokee knew that Moses had been made a Chief of the Israelites and Aaron the High Priest.  Once again, we find similarities in the religious ceremonies conducted by Moses and Aaron under the direction of God and the ceremony of the “Sacred Fire” as conducted by the Chief and the Firekeeper, under the direction of the Great Spirit.  The Chief taking the place of Moses and the Firekeeper that of Aaron.

REVIVAL URGED

There was a time when there were several ‘sub-ordinate’ fires scattered throughout the Cherokee country.  These fires were maintained by assistant Chiefs and assistant Firekeepers.  Unfortunately, as the Cherokee have taken more and more of the white man’s customs and religions, many of these fires have vanished.  The Principal Fire is still alive, but has been dwindling in recent years.  It is regrettable that many of the younger generation do not know (or care) of the ‘old ways.’  As a concerned and devoted member of the Principal Ceremonial Grounds, I hope and pray that the Sacred Grounds be revived and a ‘new life’ be poured back into an ageless religion.  It is imperative that the “Sacred Fire” be kept alive.

Hickory Starr, a grandson of the Nighthawk Keetoowah Society leader, Redbird Smith, was born and reared in the Blackgum community – north and east of the Ceremonial Grounds.  He never spoke English until his late teen years, which did cause him ‘some difficulty’ when told about a job opening.  He was told to go to room 2 something in the Federal Building in Muskogee.  He walked a/o hitched to the federal building (about 25 miles) and when he got there, he realized that he couldn’t read numbers on the doors, and feeling somewhat addled, he returned home the same way he’d gotten to Muskogee.  He did learn the English language and went on to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater.

This writer spent countless hours, days, weeks, months and even years in discussions with the late Hickory Starr.  We talked about the early days among the traditionalists, and what is in store for the future of the ‘Stomp Grounds.’  I may be clouded in the demeanor in which I try to portray this gentle man, and his beliefs.   I only knew this man for a short period of time (insofar as the calendar is concerned), but I feel that I came to know him quite well, and he me.  Hickory (or Tsi-Yo-se-hi as he was known in our native tongue), related to me many things, which I shall remember forever.  I plan to only relate a few of them.

Medicine Worker Hickory Starr was called to take charge of the Principal Fire in July of 1986.  Tsi-Yo-se-hi was, in my opinion a man who walked this earth with Jesus Christ at his side, every step of the way.  There have been times that I’ve felt Christ’s presence when I was with Tsi-Yo-se-hi.  This man has taught me much about not only the ‘Grounds’, but also life in general.  His duty as Chief was to be more than a job; it was a very special calling.  A calling from above.  He did not ask for the position that he held until his death (Feb 17, 1991), but neither did he turn from it.  I am, personally, very pleased that he heeded this calling. The friendship he and I formed can not be described with mere words.  The knowledge imparted to me may not be able to be put on paper, but I’ll try.

Much of what I’ll put down, you’ll just have to take my word for, as there is not a tangible way of convincing you that what I say is true.  Just remember that, for me, these things are true.  There are many reasons for things happening the way they do.  If you don’t believe the way I do, so be it.  All the talking and writing in the world will not convince you to change your mind and think like me.  I do not want you to think like me, or believe as I do.  I’m only relating my experiences about a Godly man, a man who held his people (the Cherokee) in both his heart and mind at all times.
Chief Starr was the first person to mention the name Jesus Christ at the “Sacred Fire.”  He did this in July of 1986.

The Keetoowah had known for years of the similarities with Christianity, but for sum unknown reason, no one ever mentioned His name at the Fire, not until Hickory Starr came along.  Traditional belief in a Creator was sufficient for the majority of the people.  This was intertwined with a form of Christianity (without being called Christianity).  Especially since there was not recorded history or texts available until the white man came to be with the Indians.
In closing, please read this tenet of life that I learned from a good man – Hickory Starr.

As you travel life’s highway a/o trail, stay on the ‘White Path.’  Do not take those little side trips.  If you should come to a point in life that turns off the ‘White Path’ STOP!  Look down that side path and think of what you see.  Do you ask yourself if it’s worth leaving the ‘White Path’?  Do you ask yourself, “Should I go down that path?”  If you feel that you have to ask yourself these questions – you should not take that path!  Once you ask yourself whether something’s right or wrong, rest assured – IT’S WRONG!  You were born, innately, knowing right from wrong, and if you choose a path different from the one you’re supposed to be traveling, it’s wrong.