Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021 - 33

TO LEARN MORE

To learn about upcoming events and activities, explore the museum, watch a documentary film and speak with rangers at Red Clay State Historic Park.
tnstateparks.com/parks/red-clay.
The National Park Service has established the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail,
which covers 5,043 miles across nine states. nps.gov/trte
-AM

money and assistance-with, of course,
the requirement that all native people
would leave. The principal chief at the
time, John Ross, sent a letter of protest to
Washington signed by 16,000 Cherokees
stating in part, " [this treaty] has not received the sanction of our people. " Much
like the Supreme Court decision, it simply
did not matter to the federal government.
In their opinion, the deal was done.
By 1838 the economic, political and
ethnocentric pressures sealed the fate of
the Cherokee Nation. Under the orders
of President van Buren, 7,000 troops descended on the southern states and Red
Clay with weapons drawn.
Women, men, children and
the elderly were stockaded
ABOVE: Blue Hole
and their possessions looted.
famous Worcester v. Georgia
Spring was used by
The forced march on foot to
(1832) case with a surpristhe Cherokee for
their water supply.
unknown lands some 1,200
ingly favorable ruling for the
miles away, the Cherokee
Native Americans. However,
LEFT: The Eternal
Trail of Tears, had begun.
this decision that recognized
Flame was lit in
" This
unimaginable
native nations as sovereign
1984.
struggle, " says Shelton, " cost
" in which the laws of Georthe lives of a quarter (apgia and other states can have
proximately 4,000 to 5,000)
no force " was egregiously
ignored. President Andrew Jackson, with of their citizens due to disease, starvaan existing history of brutal " Indian re- tion and exposure. Also, what is less well
moval " campaigns in his past, was among known is that there were also Creek and
those who refused to honor that decision approximately 1,500 enslaved people of
African descent who traveled the Cheroof the highest court.
In addition to external pressures, there kee Trail of Tears. "
The group that walked west is called
existed a fundamental and deep divide
among the Cherokee about the best way the Cherokee Nation.
" The group that remained behind was
forward for their people. Some wished to
stand and fight the efforts of forced re- comprised of those allowed to stay under
moval; and others thought the offers of the Treaty of 1819, " says Medley. " These
compensation and land west of the Mis- were those who married into white famisissippi in " Indian territory " (present-day lies and refugees from the Removal who
hid in the mountains of North Carolina.
Oklahoma) should be accepted.
As internal negotiations on this divide This latter group is known today as the
continued, a group of unofficial repre- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
" When the Cherokee [at Red Clay]
sentatives signed an agreement with the
federal government named the Treaty of learned of the impending move west to
New Echota. It exchanged every acre of Indian Territory, they wanted to take
Cherokee land east of the Mississippi for their council fire with them, " says Med-

ley. " They loaded coals into iron pots and
carried them through the journey. When
they arrived, they re-lit their council fire.
It still burns in Oklahoma today. However, " she continues, " there remained a lot
of animosity toward the Cherokee who
decided to remain in their homeland [in
the east]. "
To bridge this divide that spanned a
century, dignitaries from the Eastern Band
traveled in a pickup truck to Tahlequah,
Oklahoma in the 1950s with the hopes of
bringing back some of the original fire, according to Medley. " When they arrived,
they got permission from a Fire Keeper
to retrieve embers and take them back to
North Carolina. The result-Council Fires
burning in the East and the West from the
original Red Clay coals. "
" In 1984, " continues Medley, " the two
groups decided to come back together as
one Nation in their homeland with the
first council meeting at Red Clay since
their departure in 1838. To commemorate
this reunion, they lit torches in Cherokee,
North Carolina from the original fire; and
seven runners brought them on foot back
to Red Clay. Upon arrival, Chief Swimmer of the Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma)
and Chief Youngdeer of the Eastern Band
of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina)
accepted the torches and lit the Eternal
Flame. "
Today this little park with great significance symbolizes, memorializes and celebrates much more than a location.
" We must protect places with difficult
histories, such as Red Clay, so that we can
avoid repeating the atrocities, " says Shelton. " The Cherokee Nation now comes
here to meet in council, educate their children, share their culture with park visitors
and to pray. "
Medley concludes: " The sacred fire of
the Eternal Flame now represents the spirit of the Cherokee People and affirms that
it will always remain here at Red Clay. "

MARCH/APRIL 2021

http://www.tnstateparks.com/parks/red-clay http://www.nps.gov/trte

Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021