The Cherokees Today
The Cherokee Nation still survives today. In fact, two Cherokee Nations exist. One is in Oklahoma. The other is in the old Cherokee homelands of North Carolina
Despite the efforts of the United States Army, not all Cherokees went west. Some hid from the army in wooded areas. This was especially true in the rugged Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina.
Others escaped from the camps. Troops Others escaped from the camps. Troops were sent to recapture them, but some Cherokees resisted. Two white soldiers were killed. One of the Cherokees, an old man named Tsali, was sentenced to death after he and two of his sons killed a soldier trying to capture them. He was killed by a firing squad of his own people. They knew that they would be shot if they didn’t obey. Tsali showed such bravery that he became a folk hero.
In all, over 1,000 Cherokees stayed in the mountains of North Carolina. Eventually, the United States government gave them permission to remain on a small reservation. Today there are over 10,000 members in the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina. Each year, a pageant called “Unto These Hills,” based on the Trail of Tears and the story of Tsali, is performed in Cherokee, North Carolina.
In Oklahoma, the Cherokees survived as well. They did so in spite of the hardships of the Trail of Tears. The western Cherokees of Oklahoma now number over 80,000. They have a thriving tribal government, schools for Cherokee children, and businesses that employ Cherokee people.
Lessons can be learned from the bitter journey called the Trail of Tears. One is that when promises are broken, many people may suffer. There is another lesson, however, to be learned from the place where the people cried. It is a lesson of hope. The Cherokees showed us the importance of courage and determination. Their survival is the survival of all that is best in the human spirit.
The Trail of Tears Page 2