Part 4: Cherokee Land Still
Written: March 13, 2021
Tired and full of dark, heavy emotions that Greenville evoked in me, my partner drove us North back to our Airbnb in Jonesborough. I was looking out the window noticing the countryside in this large valley, when suddenly my partner quickly took an exit with no warning. Then I saw the sign for Davy Crockett’s Birth Place State Park and knew where we were headed.
You could see many old buildings of a settlement as we parked our car. It was a settlement that showed life of the of the first waves of European settlers that came over the mountains and into what is now known as Tennessee. The life here looked simple, hard but close to elements and seasons. My spirits lifted here and my love of history took over as I explored the park which had built structures as they would have been back in the 1780’s.
“The frontier phase of Tennessee history took place from 1768 to around 1828. The first settlers moved into East Tennessee in violation of the Proclamation of 1763, which stated that land west of the proclamation line (most of what is now Tennessee) was reserved for Indians, in this case the Cherokee.” http://www.tn4me.org/era.cfm/era_id/3
Davy Crockett was born 1786 in the middle of the frontier phase and started his life along the Nolichucky River. (He was born 14 years before my ancestor William, MD) This settlement looked like it was a hard life in trying to settle on a land new to a people only living in small family units because it was important for them to be able to “own” their own land. Back in the Europe, land was owned by the privileged, which made most people serfs and tied to the land with little freedom. Until the New World opened up to them and allowed them a chance to escape that system. However, comparing to the Cherokee people who already lived on that land, their lives to me seem hard and isolated. The Cherokee people thrived in their own communities and the Indigenous way of thinking about leadership, community and the land. This allowed them to thrive without the benefit of strong metals and firearms. That was until the colonizers came and in search of their own land, began forcing entire communities of Native Americans out of their homes and subjected them to ethic cleansing.
One of the most devastating polices for the Cherokee was the Indian Removal Act supported by President Andrew Jackson. This act was nothing less than the forced relocation and ethic cleansing of Eastern Native Americans from 1830–1847. Here’s a timeline of removal.
In 1838, Major General Winfield Scott was put in command of 7,000 soldiers whose job was to remove Cherokee Indians from their lands in Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. ~tn4me.org
This history hurts deeply. It’s a collective pain body that we much dance, story tell, love, laugh, learn and reclaim what we can to heal. All people living on stolen land (hint ,that’s the entire USA) can join to really feel into this discomfort and help by acknowledging it, and making what amends we can on a governmental and personal level. Most of my ancestors benefited from this thief. They also lost their own cultures to buy into white supremacy delusion. My Indigenous ancestors lost everything. My work in the world helps us all reclaim what what was lost and heal what we can. This work starts with learning more about this intergenerational trauma. Here’s a resource I would suggest. Hear it from the people who were removed and suffered on the Trail of Tears.
Trail of Tears
In 1838 Cherokee people were forcibly moved from their homeland and relocated to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. They resisted their Removal by creating their own newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, as a platform for their views. They sent their educated young men on speaking tours throughout the United States. They lobbied Congress, and created a petition with more than 15,000 Cherokee signatures against Removal. They took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that they were a sovereign nation in Worcester vs. Georgia (1832). President Andrew Jackson ignored the Supreme Court decision, enforced his Indian Removal Act of 1830, and pushed through the Treaty of New Echota.
In 1838 Cherokee people were forcibly taken from their homes, incarcerated in stockades, forced to walk more than a thousand miles, and removed to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died and many are buried in unmarked graves along “The Trail Where They Cried.” ~ Museum of the Cherokee Indian
It is this history that makes it where everything named Cherokee, but no Cherokee people are living here because they were forcibly removed from their homeland. (I am sure there might be some people who have Cherokee ancestors here but they weren’t visible in the community for someone passing through) Seeing all the businesses with signs like Cherokee Motors and Cherokee Rentals left a visceral emptiness due to glorifying a people after they are removed and gone and then using their very name to make money.
As an adult, Davy Crockett had a career in politics representing the State of Tennessee. He supported small farmers and he was against the Indian Removal Act that President Andrew Jackson was supporting. Davy Crockett lost his elections because he was against the Indian Removal Act. He ended going out West and then died at the Alamo. He couldn’t stop “Manifest Destiny” and the disregard for the common farmer he supported.
As I walked around his birthplace, I was drawn to the river. I felt lighter on it’s banks. This was a river I knew in my bones. I knew I would be back as it radiated belonging to me. My research shows that I have many ancestors who lived close to the river and in the valley. I felt this so deeply, I booked a 5 day trip there this summer with our large blended family and our dog. We got an airbnb where the Nolichucky River flows at the end of the backyard. I am looking forward to resting and finding joy on its banks.
Thank you for being on this journey with me. It’s amazing to think that one late night on Ancestry.com led me down this path. Booking this trip in 6 months into the Covid Pandemic and just seeing what happened changed me. My body spoke to me and I listened. I learned so much about the place and times of my ancestors. I am more rooted now.