Sara’s Reviews > Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation > Status Update

It is quite interesting that the Cherokee who elected to leave for Arkansas begin to take, by force, the land of the Osage. I don't think they understood "do unto others" in exactly the way it was meant. Domino effect as one people rapidly attempts to displace another.

How can the Indians be called savage and the Whites civilized, when the Whites strip the bodies of skin so that they can make belts and pouches. On the other hand, the Indian women tie the white captives to a pole by a long vine and chase them around the pole burning them in degrees until they die. There is surely enough barbarity to go around.

The attack on Fort Mims and killing and scalping of 500 people was done by the Creeks, but all the Indians suffered the consequences of this. Perception is everything, and for white settlers, I imagine an Indian is an Indian.

It is heartbreaking to read, but I am interested in the POV being from inside the Indian nations. The internal conflicts are never heard of in history lessons, only as it affects whites.

This is so very sad because we all know the ending of the story. How confusing and unimaginable this must have been for these people. Of course, there are despicable men on both sides, but the greed of the Indian leaders who sell the land so cheaply makes me want to cry. I feel for those, like Ridge, who recognize the value and can do little.

"As they saw the situation, this land had never been owned before by anybody. The Indians had owned it in common but never owned it in the sense of knowing it or having boundaries possessing it personally."

How good we humans are at making everything fit our preferred scenario. No guilt if you are not taking something that belonged to someone else. They don't even have to feel they are the ones starting the war.