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The Legend of the Cherokee Rose
The Cherokee were driven from their homelands in North Carolina and Georgia over 100 years ago
when gold was discovered in their lands. The journey known as the "Trail of Tears". It was a terrible
time for the people - many died from the hardships and the women wept. The old men knew the
women must be strong to help the children survive so they called upon the Great One to help their
people and to give the mothers strength.
THE NEVER ENDING TRAIL
The preceding was partly inspired by a story told to children by John Burnett on the occasion of his eightieth birthday in 1890. It was printed in
a book titled "Cherokee Legends And The Trail Of Tears", adapted by Thomas Bryan Underwood.
My main inspiration, though is the shame and disgust I feel as I learn more about the atrocities perpetrated by our forefathers and the injustices
which still occur to the true Native Americans.
John Burnett was a Private in an infantry company which took part in the Cherokee Removal of 1838-1839.
Near the end of his story he says, in part, "Future generations will read and condemn the act .....". Do we?
In closing he says, "However, murder is murder whether committed by the villain skulking in the dark or by uniformed men stepping to the
strains of martial music.
Murder is murder and somebody must answer, somebody must explain the streams of blood that flowed in the Indian country in the summer of
1838.
Somebody must explain the four thousand silent graves that mark the trail of the Cherokees to their exile. I wish I could forget it all, but the
picture of six hundred and forty-five wagons lumbering over the frozen ground with their Cargo of suffering humanity still lingers in my memory.
Let the historian of a future day tell the sad story with its' sighs, its' tears and dying groans. Let the great Judge of all the earth weigh our actions
and reward us according to our work."
If only it worked that way!(Abe Jones)
This page was last updated Tuesday, 11-Sep-2018 07:01:37 MDT Doris Robbins |