“They took the whole Cherokee nation Put us on this reservation Took away our ways of life The tomahawk and the bow and knife” From “Indian Reservation” by Paul Revere and the Raiders Oh, Beautiful Cherokee People (original title) Oh, beautiful Cherokee people, lovers of community, weavers of baskets, and eventual creators of an alphabet, so peacefully you prospered in the fertile homelands of America’s southeastern regions. Greedy men conspired to be rid of you. Gluttons for the glitter of gold ore, they overturned the highest law in all the land by an order of removal signed by the white man’s president. Old Hickory, the blood of innocents is on your hands. Monroe and other men of great influence, your arrogance brought shame upon my country, which supposedly was founded on love for justice! Your actions brought great sorrow to the whole of a democratic nation established by the peaceful Cherokees. Turned out of their homes with only what they carried on their backs, women, men and children walked a path where thousands would succumb to hunger, sickness, and exposure to the cold. Unholy were their cries of grief for those who perished on the Trail of Tears. Herded onto boats like cattle, then forced to new locations in mainly Oklahoma, how did this tribe, once so dignified, survive? Oh, beautiful Cherokee people, were you able to raise up again the “three sisters” - the corn, beans and squash which historically sustained your seven clans? Did the sacred cedar rise up for you again in this strange new land assigned to you? I know so little of your history, but somehow you survived the transplantation, and now your women and men of medicine carry on the ancient rituals. How many of you remain upon the reservations? You who once prayed daily to the seven directions of the seven clans, giving gratitude while bathing in the sacred streams or rivers. I envision you, beautiful Cherokee people, rising up again to claim the green and fertile fields of your beloved heritage. Written 9/4/15 Now submitted For William Kekaula's A Historic Event Poetry Contest *Poem edited to exactly 300 words and checked by WordCounter.net This poem depicts a tragic page from U.S. history called "The Trail of Tears" This is from www.britannica.com: "Trail of Tears, in U.S. history, the forced relocation during the 1830s of Eastern Woodlands Indians of the Southeast region of the United States (including Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole, among other nations) to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River."