A Winter Camp

A Winter Camp. . "We found them in the forest camped for the night by the road side under a severe fall of rain accompanied by heavy wind. With their canvas for a shield from the inclemency of the weather, and the cold wet ground for a resting place, after the fatigue of the day, they spent the night. , "We met several detachments in the southern part of Kentucky... two thousand Indians with horses and mules in proportion. The forward part of the train we found just pitching their tents for the night, and notwithstanding some thirty or forty wagons were already stationed, we found the road literally filled with the procession for about three miles in length." , 1830s Indian Removal Policy , For Cherokees, homelands are a place of origin with high spiritual and cultural value embedded in the land and waterways. Federal Indian removal policy became a divisive tool that forced Tribes west of the Mississippi River. Some supporters of these policies believed that Tribes could not coexist in States. Ultimately, Jacksonian era policies removed Tribes to create a pathway for rapid growth, wealth, and power for white settlers in the east. , The United States government forcibly removed more than 15,000 Cherokee; 21,000 Muscogee (Creek); 9,000 Choctaw; 6,000 Chickasaw; 4,000 Seminole., Today , Members of the five removed tribes endured starvation, exposure, and disease during removal. Those who survived established new lives in Indian Territory. Today, these Tribes continue as sovereign nations, preserving culture and traditions for generations to come. , Cherokees who survived the Trail of Tears joined those who moved earlier to reunite as the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory, now the Cherokee Nation reservation. Some Cherokees remained in North Carolina and formed the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.