Remembering the Trail of Tears

[Larry124]

My local in Southeastern Pennsylvania:

From: www.delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us/

The name DELAWARE was given to the people who lived along the Delaware River, and the river in turn was named after Lord de la Warr, the governor of the Jamestown colony. The name Delaware later came to be applied to almost all Lenape people. In our language, which belongs to the Algonquian language family, we call ourselves LENAPE (len-NAH-pay), which means something like "The People." Our ancestors were among the first Indians to come in contact with the Europeans (Dutch, English, & Swedish) in the early 1600s. The Delaware were called the "Grandfather" tribe because we were respected by other tribes as peacemakers since we often served to settle disputes among rival tribes. We were also known for our fierceness and tenacity as warriors when we had to fight, however, we preferred to choose a path of peace with the Europeans and other tribes.

Our Delaware people signed the first Indian treaty with the newly formed United States Government on September 17, 1778. Nevertheless, through war and peace, our ancestors had to continue to give up their lands and move westward (first to Ohio, then to Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and finally, Indian Territory, now Oklahoma). One small band of Delawares left our group in the late 1700s and through different migrations are today located at Anadarko, Oklahoma. Small contingents of Delawares fled to Canada during a time of extreme persecution and today occupy two reserves in Ontario (The Delaware Nation at Moraviantown and The Munsee-Delaware Nation).

[Ozark Ridge Rider]

Thanks, Cavscout, for the heads up. What a wonderful way to show respect for their heritage.

I am on the other end of their trip, right on the Trail in Missouri. Hope I can find out when they will be through here and meet up with them.

It will surely be hot here, probably for their whole trip. Missouri's KATY trail was hot this week, too, but we made it. I'm sure they will do just fine.

Dan

[cavscout]

Just an update that the web site has been updated to include an itinerary for the ride so folks can keep an eye out.

http://www.remembertheremoval.org/Remember/Agenda.html

[Ozark Ridge Rider]

Thanks again, Cavscout. Cassville, MO, July 12. That is here at home. Will try to meet up with them and maybe ride with them awhile if possible.

Dan

[macwilkin]

Thanks again, Cavscout. Cassville, MO, July 12. That is here at home. Will try to meet up with them and maybe ride with them awhile if possible.

Dan

Dan,

If you do, be sure to send a write-up to the St. Andrew's Society newsletter. That would make interesting copy for sure.

T.

[Farlander]

In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nunna daul Isunyi—“the Trail Where They Cried”.

In the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee in the 1830's, my family, both Scots-Irish and Native American hid from Andrew Jackson's relocation efforts.

It pains me to look at a $20 bill...

[Bigkahuna]

Hey Farlander, our families must have been neighbors. We had a home where the Broad and French Rivers meet.

[cavscout]

I see that translation all over the internet but I've not found any sources that can substantiate it's translation. Do you have a source I could follow on this?

The translations I'm familiar with are

ga-nv-nv du-na-tlo-i-yi-lv which is how members from the Western band of Cherokees would say it. Literally "(the trail) (where they cried)". This obtained from the Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center Language Services.

or

ge-tsi-ka-hv-da a-ne-gv-i from the Eastern band. This would be "Trail of Tears", from Cherokee Words by Mary Ulmer Chiltoskey.

There are many other phrases that are much less "poetic" and much more emotional that are used among native speakers.

Actual meanings and translations of Cherokee words may differ slightly or greatly depending on what is common use in the area you learn it.

A bit more background into where different translations can derive from...

At the time of European contact, there were three main dialects of Cherokee: Lower or Coastal (Alati), spoken primarily in South Carolina, Middle (Kituwah) spoken primarily in Georgia and the North Carolina panhandle, and Upper, Mountain, Over-the-Hill or Overhill (Atali), spoken primarily in Tennessee.

The Lower dialect had an "r" sound but no "l"; while Middle and Overhill have an "l" but no "r". For this reason, the English knew the people as Charakee or Cherokee, while the Spanish coming from the other direction knew them as Chalaque or Chalagee. The Lower dialect has been extinct for over 200 years, but portions of it are retained in oral history, stories and songs.

After the Indian Removal of 1838 - 39, the infamous "Trail of Tears," three Cherokee speaking communities remained in the east: Big Cove, speaking Middle Cherokee with remnants of Lower, Cherokeetown, speaking Middle, and nearby Snowbird Mountain, speaking primarily Overhill.

Those who removed to what became Oklahoma mostly spoke Overhill, with many who spoke Kituwah or both. What is now called the "Western dialect" is a combination of the two. The blend is different in different parts of the fourteen-county Cherokee Nation, and there are now five recognized sub-dialects. Wheat is now called the "Eastern dialect" is predominantly Kituwah. All of the dialects are mutually understood, and could be compared to the difference between American English and Australian English. Both Eastern and Western dialects have been influenced by English, and the Western dialect shows considerable Spanish influence.

[KFCarter]

This certainly qualifies for my daily "a day doesn't go by without learning something interesting on XMarks" post.

Thanks again to the OP for this thread.

:ootd:

[Rob Wright]

Thanks for the updates.


My Multi-cultural Education Professor is Cherokee, we hit it off great and in a stroke of coincidence, turns out my mother had her for the same class seven years earlier. WE still keep in touch, one of the handful of professors I count as a mentor.

Rob