Emily and I were traveling through Marshal County, Indiana, when we stumbled across a sign:
We knew about the Trail of Death, having traveled across Indiana for two years researching our book, Hoosier Hysterical. Since Emily and I have Native American blood, we followed our curiosity and other signs ...
To the statue of Chief Menominee.
Here Beowulf (who was not allowed to pee on the property) investigates a plaque at the memorial site. While other Native Americans signed treaties and moved themselves west of the Mississippi River, Menominee gathered into his village a group of people who simply refused to go. In 1838 he and five other leaders were arrested, and the final 859 Potawatomi were forced to move to Kansas, a two month trip. It was the largest single forced removal of Natives from Indiana. In a march of about 660 miles, forty-two of them died, many of a typhoid epidemic; twenty-eight were children.
A Catholic priest who made the trip with them died on the way back, of exhaustion. Menominee himself passed away less than three years later, and is buried in Kansas.
The first monument to a Native American under state or federal legislation is this one, erected in 1909 by the State of Indiana. It's near the headwaters of the Yellow River, and not far from the location of his village.
So.
Emily and I both have Cherokee ancestors: Hers were forced onto the Trail of Tears, ending up in her case in Missouri; mine apparently hid out in the Appalachians, escaping government removal. There are markers and monuments commemorating events along the routes, and I'd encourage people to follow them sometime.
If there's one thing our road trips have taught us, it's that you come across the most unexpected things along the way.
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"
Haunting and sad.
ReplyDeleteVery much so. My wife and I have plans to follow the Trail of Tears when the pandemic is over, and we've added this trail, too.
DeleteI did not know about the ones in Indiana. Yes, there were Cherokee in the Appalachian Mts., but they were as poor as the white folks. Our land investors did not want their land. Lanny's (my husband) Cherokee relation are from them. Tweeted.
ReplyDeleteMore than likely your husband is related to me, if distantly. And sure enough, my family down there was very poor!
DeleteMy mother's people were from North Carolina so I was aware of the Trail of Tears. My father even called her "the Cherokee". I did the commercial DNA test done, and there's no Native American blood OF ANY KIND. I'm going to get a second opinion. I will make a point of looking this up -- I've never heard of it, so thanks. Anyway, it astounds me that people are surprised to find that Whatever-Americans are still pissed.
ReplyDeleteA second opinion probably won't help--it's a glitch in the DNA testing process, partially because so relatively few Native Americans have had their tested. Mine also came up zero, despite the fact that our family geologist has documented proof that we have Cherokee in our family.
DeleteMy earliest American white ancestor came ashore in North Carolina (from Ireland) and eventually moved into the Appalachians. There are apparently a lot of Irish-Cherokee people in that area.