February 20, 1838

We finally arrived at our destination. Nearly 4000 Cherokee have died so far. There are still more on their way. Those of us who survived the trip will have to re-build our nation. The rift formed by the differences between the National and Treaty party have not healed. In fact, the divisions between the Cherokee have grown more prominent as a result of the journey.

Regardless of our differences, it is up to us to re-build the Cherokee Nation. We will have to work hard to ensure our nation's survival. Though it may be a rough and twisty road, but we are a strong people. Now, we morn for our lost brothers and sisters; tomorrow, we begin re-building our nation. (Sequence of Events) (Global Security) (Illinois General Assembly)

December 4, 1838

Today we reached the Mississippi river. My spirit is heavy. Already so many have died. My mother passed away on November 23. My youngest brother is sick. Half the Cherokee in our group have fallen sick to one ailment or another. I am one of the strongest amongst us and even I am tired and weary. We cannot cross the river because of the snow and ice so we have no choice but to camp and wait. We are exposed in the elements and can not go to the town because the whites are afraid we would spread small pox. Many die every day. If we stay here much longer, no one will survive to tell our tale... (Sequence of Events) (Illinois General Assembly)

October 30, 1838

We have been told to prepare to leave tomorrow for the long journey to the Oklahoma territory. We have no winter clothing and most of us dont even have moccasins to put on our feet. Blankets were distributed to us today. I have heard rumors saying these blankets were used in a hospital which suffered an outbreak of smallpox. Our already poor immune systems will not be able to fight off the assault of disease and sickness. (Sequence of Events) (Global Security)

August 21, 1838

In June, groups of Cherokee began heading for the eastern territory that is to become our new home. We have heard reports of famine, death, and disease plaugeing the trail thus far. Those who left earlier in the summer faired better because they were able to take steamboats and trains most of the way. I fear that when we are all finally forced to leave, we will have no choice but to walk the thousand miles on foot. (Global Security)

March 3, 1838

A few months back, we were moved from the holding fort into some sort of internment camp housing somewhere around 800 Cherokee. We are all deeply saddened at the loss of our heritage. We are forever separated from the sacred lands of our for fathers. (Global Security)

April 1, 1837

Last night I arrived at my new home. Yesterday morning, troops arrived at my village and began herding us like cattle into the meeting hut. The women and children were afraid, no one knew what would happen. We were then numbered off and brought outside where we where made to stand in line as the soldiers marched us off our land. We were only given five minutes to gather our belongings. We arrived that evening at a Fort in Georgia. It is more like a jail. I do not want to stay here. (Global Security)

March 7, 1837

At the command of the new president, Martin Van Buren, a force of American milita and regular army men under the command of General Winfield Scott have begun rounding up my people by force! These men call us barbarians, and yet they are the ones forcing us out of our ancestral homes by gunpoint! I have not been taken yet, but I fear soon the time will come. The soldiers are taking the Cherokee to specially constructed forts for this purpose... How can they do this? (Global Security)

December 27, 1836

Many have left. Those Nationalists left are clinging to their property by a string. My family will be one of the last to leave. There is talk of the new president's anti-Indian position and many of us are afraid for what next year will bring. Jackson was a hard and difficult man, I dont know how it could get much worse, but somehow, I have a feeling it will...

January 12, 1836

Today we learned of the passage of a treaty written by a small delegation of Cherokee at New Echota. By the terms of the new Treaty, the Cherokee Nation cedes all lands claimed east of the Great Mississippi river. The National Party leaders are furious they were not consulted. Already there has been much violence between the Cherokee. We must come together and join forces to beat back the flood of white men in our lands, but instead, I fear civil war may be upon us. Now we have no choice. We will be forced to leave unless Congress fails to ratify the treaty, which is not likely. (Kappler)

April 28, 1835

After years of negotiations and trials, the Cherokee people are worse off than ever! We are still being oppressed and many of us now see removal from our territorial lands as innevitable. There has been a division in our Nation. Those who support the Ross Family are called the "National Party," who advocate refusal and resistance, while the Ridge family supporters, known as the "Treaty Party" advocate for the negotiation of a treaty, seeing removal inevitable, which would secure the best terms possilbe for our Nation. I am unsure of which path to take. On the one hand, I have my duity to my Nation and its traditions; on the other, I have the best interest of my people in mind. I do not know what do do... (Wilkins)

July 14, 1833

We have tried everything. Daily the white frontiersmen press our boarders, threatening to drive us off our native land. No matter what we try, we cannot halt the process of removal. We have used the American’s court system and have appealed to their highest court two times, once with a ruling in our favor, and yet, this atrocity against the Cherokee Nation continues. How can the United States be a democracy, based off a system of checks and balances, and with three distinct branches of government if one of those branches is ignored? (Global Security)

March 24, 1832

Today we face another blow to Cherokee national sovereignty. In an address, President Jackson once again voiced his support of Georgia's efforts to remove my people from our native lands. In response to the Marshall Court's decision in Worcester, Jackson stated "the decision of the supreme court has fell still born, and they find that they cannot coerce Georgia to yield to its mandate." While the Supreme Court is the highest court of the land, if the Great Father [Jackson] will not honor their decision, it is meaningless. (Boller)(Jackson)

March 6, 1832

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of the United States, under Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of Mr. Worcester in the case Worchester v. Georgia! This is a great victory for the Cherokee people. In his ruling, Justice Marshall argued that the Cherokee nation was a "distinct community" with self-government "in which the laws of Georgia can have no force." This decision is monumentous in that it invalidates Georgia's laws regulating the Cherokee Nation! Only the National Government has authority to regulate Indian affairs now! (Worcester v. Georgia)

March 19, 1831

We recieved word today that the Supreme Court case The Cherokee Nation v. Georgia had been ruled not in our favor. The basis of our argument was that we, the Cherokee Nation, were a foreign state, and that the state of Georgia had no right to impose laws against us. The Court ruled that we are a "denominated domestic dependent nation", over which the Supreme Court [has] no original jurisdiction." Apparently however, the court was not completely without remorse in their decision and left the door open for future litigation. (Cherokee Nation v. Georgia)

December 20, 1830

On my last visit to town, my friend gave me a copy of the President's speech of December 8th. I hadent had time to read it until last night, when I read it to the elders around the fire. Andrew Jackson is a devil. He is consumed by greed and injustice. He calls us "savage hunters." Our time honored traditions are now "savage habits." As reasoning for this desasterous action, he claims "It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians." But in reality, all he desires is to enable the southern states to "advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power." Our Nation is under attack. (Jackson)

December 12, 1830

I risked venturing into town again today to see my friend in secret. I can no longer walk through town without risking my life. The townspeople are mostly friendly, however, there are those frotiersmen who would love to capture a brave to provoke the Cherokee onto the war path. A path we cannot win.

December 9, 1830

Yesterday, President Jackson addressed the Congress of the United States. In his address, he introduced a policy which would effecitvely remove from us the few land rights we have left and effectively make us squatters on our own land. This land that has been in our family for generations will no longer be safe. If we do not have rights, I fear we will continue to be taken advantage of. (Jackson)

October 18, 1830

When I was in town last, one of my white friends read me an article in "The North American Review" entitled, Removal of the Indians. It appears that many of the white Americans are supportive of our claims. The article claims that "so far as the people of the United States understand the subject, and are free from the influence of violent political partialities, their feelings are almost universally favorable to the claims of the Indians." How can this be if the leadership of the United States is still bent on forcing us out? Why don't the American people do something to help us? (Removal of the Indians, 396).

August 20, 1830

My father remembers the signing of the Holston Treaty in 1791. The leaders of our Nation joined with the white men and agreed to new territorial boundaries for our lands. This treaty also re-affirmed the "Perpetual peace between the United States and the Cherokee nation." Too bad that peace was not to last. Another article of the treaty forbade any non-Cherokee person from trespassing and hunting in our land. This is yet another example of the white man's treachery. (Ridge, 1266)

July 15, 1830

I fear we will soon be strangers in our own lands. The Cherokee are strong in their resolve, but the other tribes are not as strong. They fear what is to come. The Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles have all signed treaties to cede portions of their land for less than one quarter of its worth. Soon I fear the Cherokee will have no choice but to join them. (Global Security)

July 4, 830

What joy is there in Independance Day for a people without freedom? The Cherokee people have been denied their rights as a sovereign nation and are now subjugated to the wills and desires of the white man. Our lives are not our own. Our property is not our own. We can no longer hunt in our own territory without fear of white men interfearing because we no longer have any territory. Our very homes are in danger. I do not know how we will survive.

July 1, 1830

"In 1828, Georgia passed a law pronouncing all laws of the Cherokee Nation to be null and void after June 1, 1830." Today is July 1, 1830. The state of Georgia no longer recongnizes our rights as Cherokee, nor as human beings! We are being pushed out of our lands like cattle. We are forced to hold tribal meetings across the state line in Red Clay, Tennessee because Georgia will no longer recognize our rights! We are under attack from those who swore an oath of friendship with us. (Global Security)

May 30, 1830

We are an independent nation! What right does the United States have to tell us what to do and where to go? We are the Cherokee Nation! The Treaty With The Cherokee in 1785 recognized my people as a Sovereign Nation! We were guaranteed hunting lands and were given sovereign power in our own lands. If a white man trespassed into our land without a passport, we could do with him as we wished. Now everything is different. The hatchet that was burried is uncovered. We have been betrayed by our white brothers. (Kappler)

May 28, 1830

The great white man has sealed our fate. Today, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, allowing Mr. Jackson to grant us unsettled land east of the great Mississippi in exchange for our territirial land here in Georgia. The villiage elders are up in arms. They remember the old days, when the Cherokee were feared and respected. Now we are treated like outcasts, savages, unwelcome guests in the way of progress. (Jackson)

May 1, 1830

The debate on this bill by the American Congress has dragged on for months now. The news from Washington is that the law-makers are nearing a vote. The tidings do not bode well for the Cherokee Nation. Every day, white settlers draw nearer to our lodges. We are under constant pressure, for the white man hunts in our territory, and we are helpless to stop him. Big Spirit, come to our rescue. (Jackson)

February 24, 1830

Today, a bill was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for the removal of eastern Indian tribes from their homelands. I am afraid for the outcome of this proposal, for my native Cherokee are included in this bill. What would we do if my people were forced from our lands? We have strong ties to this place which are not broken easily. If we are asked to leave, I fear it will be disasterous for all the Cherokee people. (Ridge, 1263)