1140 Red Clay Park Road, Cleveland, TN 37311
423-478-0339
Open 8am to Sunset March-November, 8am-4:30pm Dec-Feb
From Chattanooga, take Exit 7a on I-75 and follow the signs to the park. From Knoxville, take Exit 25 on I-75. Access the park via Red Clay Park Road from the north (Tennessee) side, or from the southeast (Georgia) side.
I am standing in Ground Zero for the Trail of Tears, Red Clay State Park, and emotions are high.
Do you remember where you were on 9/11? Now imagine the Cherokee nation, coming together out of fear, anger, and disbelief as they hear the news. Despite the best efforts of their great Principal Chief John Ross, the Cherokee nation would be forced to accept the unthinkable: their homes and businesses in Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama were now the white man's, and all Cherokee east of the Mississippi must be removed to the western territories. The place where they learned of their fate: Red Clay State Park, and this sacred site and time will never be forgotten.
The story of the Trail of Tears (TOT) is a gripping tale of greed, betrayal and tragedy. It is also the story of war – the white European culture against indigenous cultures, but also of Native against Native. It is one of the most heartbreaking chapters in American history, and a tale that must be told and taught in schools but usually isn’t. There’s so much to be learned about this subject, and a blog post cannot begin to give it justice. But this is such an important and moving topic, one of which affords us many Sacred Sites in Tennessee and elsewhere, that I will try my best to provide an introduction. I will start by saying that until my visit to Red Clay State Park I have never felt such emotion in a museum or interpretive center, but found myself breaking down with tears of sadness and anger numerous times at this and other TOT sites as the enormity of the story and implications overwhelmed me. I hope that as you explore the circumstances that led up to the Trail of Tears and the difficult journey the tribes endured that you will come to further appreciate the indigenous peoples who once resided here.
The Trail of Tears, also known in Cherokee as Nunahi-Dlo-Hilu-I (The Trail Where They Cried) are the 5,000 miles of roads, trails and water routes that lead the Cherokee and other tribes away from their homes in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Each of the routes would average 800-1000 miles, with many enduring a brutally cold winter with few provisions or clothing. The majority of Cherokee started their journey to Indian Territory in Tennessee, and many of the most important sites of this tragic history are here.
Situated on the Tennessee/Georgia state line, Red Clay State Park was the seat of the Cherokee Nation’s federal government and council grounds from 1832 to 1837, after Georgia passed an act in 1831 prohibiting council meetings and assemblies at their capital New Echota, and after a year in Alabama. Eleven councils were held here during this time, attended by an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Cherokees, and it is where a proposed treaty with the US government in October 1835 was unanimously rejected and strenuous objections in Washington DC by John Ross would ensue. For me, this is Ground Zero for the TOT, where the Cherokee learned in December 1835 that Major Ridge and his faction in Georgia had signed the fraudulent Treaty of New Echota that would result in their removal. Where the Cherokee Nation they loved would change forever.
We are now about to take our final leave and kind farewell to our native land the country that the Great Spirit gave our Fathers, we are on the eve of leaving that Country that gave us birth. It is the land of our fathers...our sons, and it is (with sorrow) that we are forced by the authority of the white man to quit the scenes of our childhood, but stern necessity says we must go, and we bid a final farewell to it and all we hold dear east of the Father of Waters, the Majestic Mississippi. - Letter by George Hicks to John Ross, November 4, 1838
The Cherokee of the early 1800’s were business entrepreneurs who owned stores, ferries, taverns, and farms, had their own written language and newspaper, and established a government based on the US government (including a Constitution and Supreme Court!). In fact, they were one of the “Five Civilized Tribes” who had adopted the values of European culture: Christianity, the concept of personal wealth rather than communal holdings, intermarriage with non-Natives, and slavery – concepts promoted by George Washington in the hopes that “aboriginals” would integrate and eventually sell their land to the white man. But when gold was discovered in Dahlonega, GA, the greed and avarice of the whites brought uneasy alliances to a stop. It became clear that the wealth of the Cherokee represented by vast land holdings and its resources must be acquired by white settlers instead, and quickly. The Georgia legislature passed a series of laws between 1827 and 1831 that nullified all Cherokee laws and prohibited them from holding public meetings or digging for gold on their own lands. In 1832 Georgia held a lottery and distributed the land to their white residents, displacing most Cherokee from their homes.
Under President Andrew Jackson, the US Government was ready to acquire all Native lands 'for the sake of the nation.' The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized Jackson to negotiate treaties with Native Americans east of the Mississippi River, which included the Choctaw, the Chickasaw, the Muskogee (Creek), the Seminole and the Cherokee, despite the fact that many of them fought alongside Jackson in the War of 1812 and other battles.
In 1831 the Choctaw in Mississippi sign the first removal treaty and leave for Indian Territory.
By 1836 most Muscogee Creeks from Alabama and Georgia are removed, many in chains.
In 1837 the Chickasaw are removed from Tennessee, Arkansas and Illinois.
By 1842 most of the Seminoles are forced to leave Florida after fiercely resisting removal in the Seminole Wars and suffering many losses.
By 1837 all but the Seminoles and Cherokee (and some Creek who sought refuge with them) had left for Oklahoma. The Treaty of New Echota signed by Major Ridge and twenty others, without the knowledge or consent of the Council in Red Clay, gave the US government the leverage they needed to remove the Cherokee, leading to their forced migration west to Oklahoma. A treaty modified by Congress gave the Cherokee until May 1838 to voluntarily relocate. Unfortunately, many Cherokee believed/hoped/prayed that Chief John Ross would be able to save their Nation, and when the deadline came, they were rounded up violently and forced into stockades, most out of Fort Cass in what is now Charleston, Tennessee. Conditions were terrible, full of filth and disease. Personal items were stolen by guards, men were routinely beaten, and women and children abused. From here detachments of Cherokee, Creek, and some of their slaves left by foot and boat for Oklahoma, where thousands would die along the way. It is said that every day of the trek a Native American died, mostly children and the elderly.
...the government might more mercifully have put to death everyone under a year or over sixty; rather it had chosen a most expensive and painful way of exterminating these poor people. - Missionary Daniel Butrick
The loss of their native land, the feelings around the forced removal, and the physical trip to Oklahoma had many social and political repercussions for Native Americans. William M. Strickland wrote that American Indians were forced "to contemplate abandonment of their native land. To the Cherokees life was a part of the land. Every rock, every tree, every place had a spirit. And the spirit was central to the tribal lifeway. To many, the thought of loss of place was a thought of loss of self, loss of Cherokeeness, and a loss of life- way."
Despite the trauma caused by the removal, it was time to rebuild not only their nation, but also the spirituality that created it. The Cherokee went on to reestablish their tribes in their new capital, Tahlequa. As the Western Band of the Cherokee, they signed a new constitution, reelected John Ross as Principal Chief, opened a new Supreme Court and started a new bilingual newspaper. The few Cherokee that escaped and hid in the mountains or lived on private white land and were protected from removal became the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, mostly in North Carolina.
Tragically, the animosity between Major Ridge's Treaty Party and Ross's Cherokee Council would follow them to Indian Territory. In June 1839, Major Ridge, John Ridge and Elias Boudinot of the Treaty Party were assassinated, and their families fled Oklahoma for what is now land near Kilgore, Texas, marking the beginning of the Cherokee Civil War which would last for decades. Sadly, it is said by some that there are hard feelings among the camps today.
In 1987, the federal government authorized the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail to mark the land and water routes of the Cherokee. As part of this commemoration, there is an interpretive center at Red Clay State Park dedicated to the story of the TOT and the proud people it displaced, while also celebrating the history and culture of the Cherokee people. I found the film and exhibits very informative and moving, and enjoyed the art exhibits, especially the stunning stained-glass windows.
The beautiful park has replicas of the 91 structures that were originally there, including a council house, farmhouses, a blacksmith shop, and sleeping huts. There are three trails in the mostly forested park and an incredible sapphire-blue spring that is sacred to the Cherokee, which is the star attraction. It is forbidden to enter the spring except during Cherokee ceremonies, but you can stand just outside to look at it. A lovely stream flows from the hole and is open to the public.
Don’t miss the Eternal Flame of the Cherokee Nation! It has an amazing story: When the Cherokee were forced to leave, pots of hot coals from the council fire here were carried by assigned fire keepers leaving in different detachments. When the coal fires eventually arrived in Oklahoma they were combined to create a new council fire, and the survivors assembled a new government of the Western Band of the Cherokee. This sacred fire, which will always remain lit, represents tears, survival, strength and hope to the Cherokee, and is a memorial to those who suffered and died during the removal. In the 1950’s, coals from the western fires were shared with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, thereby once again uniting their sacred fires; and in 2015 the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes (the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) reconvened for the first time at Red Clay State Park since the removal.
There are a number of events that happen at Red Clay each year: The Cherokee Heritage Festival in August, Friends of Red Clay Native American Festival in October, and a lecture symposium in March. Sounds like a great excuse to make the trip to this great place.
The story of the Trail of Tears deserves to be studied, the sites to be visited, and the stories to be heard. Listed below are some resources for learning more about this momentous time in American and Native American history, in addition to links in this blog post. I am working on a Spiritual/Historical Travel Guide to what I consider the most important sites, and if you would like to be notified of its completion, please email me at Lisa@sacredsitesoftn.com.
P.O. Box 92501 Nashville, TN 37209 www.nativehistoryassociation.org
Places To Go: Tennessee - Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
The Trail of Tears in Tennessee: A Study of the Routes Used During the Cherokee Removal of 1838
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