“The Trail Where We Cried” Could we have prevented the Cherokee Trail of Tears? Grade 8 April Bennett Thomas Starr King Middle School, Film and Media Magnet INTRODUCTION: The Trail of Tears marked an important turning point in U.S. policy regarding Native Americans and their rights to lands. This series of primary source documents and the accompanying lessons support an understanding of how we, the American people, shaped the circumstances that led to “the trail where we cried,” as it is known in the Cherokee language. COMPELLING QUESTION: Could the United States have prevented the Cherokee Trail of Tears? SUPPORTING QUESTIONS: Who is the “we” in the Compelling Question and the Cherokee name for the Trail of Tears (“the trail where we cried”)? What can we create to display the results of our research in the Our West gallery at the Autry? What was the Cherokee Trail of Tears? What was the U.S. policy regarding Native Americans in the first four Presidential administrations? How did Andrew Jackson’s attitude compare to earlier Presidents? Why did many Euro-Americans desire to take over Cherokee lands in the Southeast in the early nineteenth century? What was the Indian Removal Act of 1830? How did various groups (including the Cherokee) react to the Indian Removal Act of 1830? EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will have a greater understanding of the numerous factors and their effects that led to the Cherokee Trail of Tears. In addition, they will be able to apply their understanding of the complexities in this event to other controversial events in United States history. Finally, students will come to see that events like the Cherokee Trail of Tears have had a collective impact on our nation, not just on one segment of our population. As they compose an essay response to the compelling question—Could we have prevented the Cherokee Trail of Tears?— they will actively participate in an ongoing discussion of a responsible citizenry in which we all take responsibility for the events of the past, present, and future. History-Social Science Content Standards: 8.5.3 Outline the major treaties with American Indian nations during the administrations of the first four presidents and the varying outcomes of those treaties. 8.8.1 Discuss the election of Andrew Jackson as president in 1828 … and his actions as president (e.g., … policy of Indian removal, …). 8.8.2 Describe the purpose, challenges, and economic incentives associated with westward expansion, … (e.g., … accounts of the removal of Indians, the Cherokees’ “Trail of Tears,” …) and the territorial acquisitions that spanned numerous decades. ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards: Reading 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources 2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions 6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts) 8. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text Writing 2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes. 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. ASSESSMENT/PERFORMANCE TASK: Task 1: At the conclusion of the six lessons attached to the end of this document, the students will answer the Compelling Question with a five- to six-paragraph essay. The essay should use a variety of primary source evidence to substantiate their assertion. Task 2: The students will work in groups to create a piece of art that illustrates one of the factors that led to the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Each group will also provide a label for their piece of artwork that provides a clear and concise summary of the factor. Collectively, the students will put together a gallery art exhibit at the Autry that asks the visitor to wrestle with the Compelling Question. Visitors will have an opportunity to record their answer to the Compelling Question at the end of the gallery exhibit. ACADEMIC VOCABULARY: cultivate, herdsmen, husbandry, implements, cede, sovereign, jurisdiction, savage, civilize. PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS: See the attached lessons for seven primary source documents around which this investigation revolves. There are several suggestions for other primary sources that can be used in this investigation. Please note that some of these documents are very long. They can be used in their entirety or modified (by shortening or using more student-friendly language) according to the needs of the students. MOTIVATION: In this nation, we embrace certain principles that cannot be altered and must be honored among and by all people. The Declaration of Independence asserts that people are created equal and are endowed with certain “unalienable” rights. It also declares that the government is put in place to protect these rights. How do we reconcile the Trail of Tears with these beloved and essential truths? MAKING CONNECTIONS: Students assess their level of interaction with Native Americans in our world today. They will also assess their identification with and connection to the American collective known as “we the people” in the U.S. Constitution. Throughout these lessons they will seek to answer: Who is the “we” in the Compelling Question and the Cherokee name for the Trail of Tears, “the trail where we cried”? INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE: See attached Lessons 1 – 6. These lessons can take place in one cohesive unit or be spread throughout the first semester of the eighth grade year and scheduled in conjunction with other relevant topics. For example, The Treaty of Holston can be studied at the same time as the U.S. Constitution to provide an example of the powers of the executive branch, legislative branch, and balance of powers between the branches of our federal government. Also, the call to action written by Catherine Beecher can introduce the work of women in reform movements such as abolition and women’s suffrage in nineteenth century America. Bibliography Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. New York: Anchor Books, 1988. Perdu, Theda and Michael D. Green. The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears. New York: The Penguin Group, 2007. Perdu, Theda and Michael D. Green. The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. ***Please also note helpful websites listed at the end of each lesson. LESSON 1 Introduce the pre-contact world of the Cherokee by reading or storytelling the excerpt of the myth of Kana’ti and Selu. Have students use the Graphic Organizer entitled, “Kana’ti and Selu” (Column 1) to sketch what they imagine as you retell the story. Next, have them answer the first question in each row of Column 2. Then, explain to the students that traditionally Cherokee men hunted and Cherokee women farmed. This myth provides important background information about the culture of the Cherokee. Use this space to record other important information about the pre-contact Cherokee that you feel will help the students understand (in future lessons) the changes that were made under the U.S. “Civilization” program. Kana'ti and Selu by Grey Bear Long years ago, soon after the world was made, a hunter and his wife lived at Pilot Knob with their only child, a little boy. The father's name was Kana'ti (The Lucky Hunter), and his wife was called Selu (Corn). No matter when Kana'ti went into the woods, he never failed to bring back a load of game, which his wife would cut up and prepare, washing off the blood from the meat in the river near the house. The little boy used to play down by the river every day, and one morning the old people thought they heard laughing and talking in the bushes as though there were two children there. When the boy came home at night his parents asked him who had, been playing with him all day. "He comes out of the water," said the boy, "and be calls himself my elder brother. He says his mother was cruel to him and threw him into the river." Then they knew that the strange boy had sprung from the blood of the game which Selu had washed off at the river's edge. Every day when the little boy went out to play the other would join him, but as he always went back again into the water the old people never had a chance to see him. At last one evening Kana'ti said to his son, "Tomorrow, when the other boy comes to play, get him to wrestle with you, and when you have your arms around him hold on to him and call for us." The boy promised to do as he was told, so the next day as soon as his playmate appeared he challenged him to a wrestling match. The other agreed at once, but as soon as they had their arms around each other, Kana'ti's boy began to scream for his father. The old folks at once came running down, and as soon as the Wild Boy saw them he struggled to free himself and cried out, "Let me go; you threw me away!" but his brother held on until the parents reached the spot, when they seized the Wild Boy and took him home with them.