October 19, 1836
Dear Americans,
The Indian nations used to be the strongest in the lands. When the Americans ancestors first arrived, they had a hard time. The land was unknown to them. They found the weather harsh. The land was rocky, raw, and untamed. They were thousands of miles from home, in the wilderness, with no way of knowing how they would survive.
We helped them. We taught them to farm. We showed them what seeds to plant. We showed them the best way to cultivate the crops. We showed them what creatures to hunt, and the best places to fish. We showed them what to eat, what not to eat, where to thrive and where to avoid. We were considered ignorant and savage, and yet we helped the colonists along in a strange, unknown land, offering them support and guidance.
We were their friends, their allies, their brothers. Whatever they wanted we gave as best we could.
But times have now changed. As the white men have grown in power, so the red men have fallen. Many of the greatest and most respected nations have died out, disbanded, and disappeared, from war, death, and disease.
YOU ARE READING
Letter From A Desperate Cherokee
Historical FictionThe Indian Removal Act was signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Indian tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their lands...
