Where is your humanity? We're reaching out to you to help us, to help a dying people, a disintegrating culture, a vanishing way of life. You stood against the British for peace, for prosperity, and for life. You claimed to ring the Bell of Liberty for the freedom and hope of all. Did that proclamation of Divinely-appointed equality only go so far as to cover the white man? Are we not human beings as well?
Think of your families, your children, and your homes. How would it feel if a nation of people you have given so much to help suddenly turned against you, taking away everything that you hold most dear? How would it feel to have your identities removed, your sacred churches robbed, and your homes burned to the ground? How would it feel to have your children die before your eyes, and to know that you are powerless to save them? Surely some of your leaders must have some small place of compassion left in their hearts. Will you not aid us, before we vanish completely?
A Desperate Cherokee,
Zachary Marching-Ant
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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...
