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Topic: Trail of Tears

Native Cultural Circle members confer with state legislators

By Turner McCullough Jr. | April 26, 2008 | Print This Post

 

NCC members meet with State Senator Rosalind Kurita. (l-r) Dr. James Cossingham-member; Virginia Moore-Secretary; Senator Kurita; Virginia Moore-Secretary, Doug Kirby-President. (Not shown- Turner McCullough Jr-member/photographer)

Members of the Clarksville Native Cultural Circle recently met with members of the Montgomery County State Legislative Delegation to urge support for pending legislation that would grant state recognition of Tennessee Native American tribes. The legislation is seen as a first step towards correcting discrimination against Native American Indians in Tennessee.

The focus is two-pronged: Eliminate recognition barriers and support of state recognition for Tennessee Native Tribes.

Following the Trail of Tears Removal, those Native Americans who did not abandon their homesites were subject to punitive laws and regulations designed to strip them of their rights to property and deny their parental rights. Many families hid their Indian heritage to avoid the consequences of proclaiming their ancestry. During the era of Jim Crow laws, Native Americans were also victimized by these repulsive abuses of political authority along with African Americans. Tennessee does not recognize recognize Native Americans as a minority group.

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Trail of Tears re-enactment ceremony at Port Royal State Historic Area

By Debbie Boen | October 17, 2007 | Print This Post

 

Part of the Trail of Tears has never been paved over and lies in its original condition at Port Royal State Historic Area. In a reenactment ceremony Saturday Oct. 13th, Cherokee representatives and others walked a section of the Trail of Tears and then up to Port Royal State Historic Area where they met with State Park representatives, the Friends of Port Royal, and five highly decorated military veterans.

Visitors witnessed an exchange of flags, Cherokee for American; then all payed respects to each flag through the playing of “Colors” to raise the State and National flags and the playing of “Taps” while the Cherokee flag stood erect. It was a welcoming, honoring ceremony that is way overdue the Cherokee in our nation.Speakers, including Port Royal Conservation Worker, David Britton, and Tennessee State Park Resource Manager Jack Gilpin addressed the gathering.

Barely an eye was dry in remembrance of the sufferings of the Cherokee and other Indian nations during the Trail of Tears. Already integrated into white society, they were forced from their homes into the march that took 4,000 lives between Florida and Oklahoma. «Read the rest of this article»

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Trails of Tears march to be re-enacted at Port Royal Historic Park

By Christine Anne Piesyk | October 6, 2007 | Print This Post

 

Visitors to the Port Royal State Historic Park can explore a piece of American history through the Trail of Tears Commemorative Walk, to be held Saturday, October 13, beginning at 10 a.m.

This tragic chapter in our nation’s history will include recognition ceremony and re-enactment of the Cherokee March in which Native Americans forced from their Georgia communities were forced to trek through Tennessee and Kentucky on their way to reservation lands in Oklahoma. Thousands died of bitter cold and lack of food on this harrowing winter journey, hence the evolution of the name “Trail of Tears.”

An exhibit related to that forced march, and to the Town of Port Royal (circa 1838) will be open to the public at 8 a.m. that morning.

The days’ activities include demonstrations of medicine and domestic chores of the 1830s, guided tours of the park, and refreshments. All activities close at 4:30 p.m. For more information, call the park at 931-358-9696.

 

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Trail of Tears PowWow celebrates Native American culture

By Christine Anne Piesyk | September 8, 2007 | Print This Post

 

img_3582-1.JPGDrummers drummed, dancers danced, and festivities went on despite the threat of rain at the annual Trail of Tears Indian PowWow in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, this weekend.

The event, which attracted hundreds of visitors, is a celebration of Native American culture and of the Cherokee people who marched through this area, banished from the Georgia landscape that was their home and heritage.

Having spent part of the day Saturday at the Trail of Tears PowWow in Christian County, Clarksville Online Author Debbie Boen, a naturalist and artist, wrote:

“As I listened to the drumming and watched the the dances I felt grounded, connected to the earth.  There’s no way to intellectually explain why that it so, but it’s a feeling of going home, really going home. I looked around at all the different kinds of people visiting the PowWow and knew that they were feeling that way too (and they can’t explain it either).

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