8: The Trail of Tears: Not one, but many
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What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better, even when it's impossible to make time for them. Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow.

Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

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Hi friends, how are you today? I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian and this is the Dark History Podcast. Welcome my friends. Come on this journey with me. Let's learn something new, shall we?

here in the Dark History Library. Ain't it fun? We've been learning so much so far. And today, let me tell you, we've got quite the story. So, remember when you take that $20 bill out of your pocket at 7-Eleven and you buy your Doritos or like one of those four-day-old hot dogs? I mean, they smell pretty good. I don't judge, Boo Bear. Anyway, you get a look at the man with the big old forehead on the bill and you're like, Andrew Jackson, is that you? What?

Aren't you a bad guy? Yes, you are correct. And remember, we already talked about Andrew Jackson being a terrible person before his presidency in a previous episode. And if you listen to or watch that one, I said that Andrew Jackson was the literal devil.

Well, I wasn't lying. And today we're gonna further prove that this was true, okay? I think it's surprising how many people don't know the full extent of the Trail of Tears. I mean, honestly, I didn't, okay? And if you ask a lot of your friends or family, they probably think it's just one straight path or it was just one straight path or something like the Oregon Trail. But for like Native Americans, it's not. It was actually really horrible.

Well, that's cute you think it's similar to the computer game we played in fifth grade, Bailey. So much of Native American history in the United States is whitewashed to make it easier to digest for children, but it really doesn't do the whole story justice. Like, did you know that they put people in mini concentration camps before sending them on the trail? Or that this just didn't happen to the natives in the South. This awful policy also destroyed tribes in the North.

In total, this impacted around 88,000 people. And during their forced relocation, they think, I mean, they don't even really know, but it's believed around 17,000 people died. Or how about that Andrew Jackson knew exactly what he was doing and was getting the results he wanted? I'm telling you, this is an ugly one. So buckle in, bitches. Buckle in.

Now, before we get into how we got here, you need to know that the Trail of Tears isn't just one event. This was a series of painful journeys that involved a total of 20 different Native tribes being forced to relocate over thousands of miles over the course of a decade. While the nations in the North were mainly pushed into Kansas, five Southern tribes traveled to what is present-day Oklahoma. It's with these five tribes we begin our story.

Now, it's often taught that the Trail of Tears only relates to the removal of the Cherokee tribe. But the Choctaw, Seminoles, Chickasaw, and the Creeks have their own Trail of Tears. Each of these nations have unique experiences of misery, violence, and pain. And even though the story focuses primarily on Cherokee removal, it's important to know how terrible this entire moment in history is.

So to understand how we got to this point, you guys remember the first president of the United States? I'm sure you were there. Mr. George Washington, the guy we like literally named everything after. Yeah, him, that guy. Well, he had promised to the people that he would take care of what was called at the time, the Indian problem. I didn't say this. That's what it was called.

His approach to dealing with this quote-unquote problem was focused on protecting white settlements and not so much the natives. Simple as that.

Now, during the 1800s, Native Americans were living all over the United States. But the focus of this story is on the indigenous tribes living in and around the southeastern part of the country. This upset white settlers because they saw the natives as alien people hogging this land they believed they deserved. I freaking roll.

George Washington presented the idea of trying to make natives as much like white people as possible. And a way to accomplish that was by converting them to Christianity and teaching them to read and speak English. You know, like we moved on to rakes and hoes and the natives were still planting seeds with their hands. Like in the colonists' eyes, the natives were old school.

I mean, they don't need to change a damn thing. Shit has been working for them forever. And here come the colonists all like, do it the way I do it or get out. Rude. Rude. The settlers wanted the natives land so they could grow cotton and apply their European farming practices. Many native tribes lived on fertile land and by the 1830s, cotton was the United States' number one export.

Colonizers basically wanted to create a uniquely American civilization and honestly erase the America that already existed. They wanted a blank slate. And since they defeated the British, they felt that they were owed this land and deserved to create their own. But the natives were not giving it up.

They were not budging. And this was frustrating to the white people who the natives called, get this, squatters. Because honestly, that's what they were, squatters.

Back then, a big priority of the colonizers was expanding the nation from sea to shining sea. It was a nation wanting to move forward, and in their minds, the natives were stuck in the Stone Ages. They shared the land, but the settlers were obsessed with private property. This is mine. Give me, you know? It's kind of like when a kid goes through that mine, mine, mine stage when they're like three, and they're like, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, and you're like, dude, shut up. This is mine.

Just like that. I guess white people just act like three-year-old children. It all makes sense. Also, the natives were sitting on fertile ground and ready to print money in the form of cotton. So the colonizers, of course, they just wanted it. And as a nation, they were trying to build an identity at all costs. And that meant having a lot of land and resources.

But again, the natives didn't want to leave because they didn't need to leave, right? So the white people, they're like, hey, we need someone who's willing to roll up their sleeves and commit some truly horrible atrocities to get them to leave. And who better than knock, knock, bitch, who's there? Andrew Bassall's Jackson. Of course he's going to come to this party. No one invited you, Andrew. Well, actually, that's a lie. But still.

Ugh. Now, at this time, Andrew Jackson was a major part of making the Trail of Tears happen. And as you can guess, he didn't really like the Native Americans. Now, if you listen to the Andrew Jackson episode, then it shouldn't be a surprise to you that Andrew was not afraid to get rid of anything standing in his way. He figured out that if you kick Native Americans off their land, you get to just take it. He's like, wow, I found this life hack.

Andrew did this and got Florida. He did this and got parts of Alabama and Georgia. He even got a fricking baby and the title of war hero out of it. But he especially hated Native Americans because he had a personal vendetta against them. You see, his brother was killed by the British in the Revolutionary War and the natives were working with the British in the North. So in Andrew's eyes, a friend of my enemy is my enemy. Like, sure, okay.

That's why when he was running for president, many looked to Andrew Jackson to take America to the next level. So I'm sure at home you're aware when a person is running for president, they come with their laundry list of talking points to present to the American people in hopes to get the votes, you know? For example, like Nixon was going to bring law and order. Reagan was going to win the war on drugs. Trump was going to build his wall.

and Andrew Jackson, he was gonna get rid of the natives. Great, super normal day. And it was a promise that like everyone agreed would be best for America, I guess.

So these presidents have, you know, their talking points and rarely do they actually achieve what they promise. Like with Andrew, he talked a big game, but very little actually happened. He tried. But he did do something so disturbingly on brand during his first term as president. He signed something legit called the Indian Removal Act.

Yeah, they just came right out and said it, which got the American people super jazzed. They were like, "Indian Removal Act? Sign me up." And it's exactly what it sounds like. A law signed by Andrew Jackson to remove the Native Americans from their land. And there was nothing they could do about it. This became priority number one for slimy old Andrew. He needs better hobbies, honestly.

Now, Andrew Jackson claimed this was for Native Americans' own good. I'm rolling my eyes if you cannot see right now. Watch. I'm rolling my eyes because, sure. His strategy was to take their land through contracts and treaties and then tell them, hey, like, you should have more land, but not this land. There's more land, like, out west. It's called Oklahoma.

And we saved it for you guys. It's just for you. That's your land over there, man. So he would keep taking more of their land and kept giving them other land further away. Of course, for their own good, which this was obviously all bullshit. And if it was confusing to you, that was the point. Andrew Jackson wanted to make things confusing.

Really cool, guys. This is easily the top 10 least chill things done in all of American history. The language in this law says it's supposed to be voluntary, that both parties would have to agree to it. And out of the deal, the Native Americans were supposed to get like some cool shit, like money and assistance moving. I don't know. I'm not looking at the exact definition, but they were supposed to get cool shit out of it.

So the Native Americans were like, oh, it's voluntary. No, thank you. We're going to stay here. We're good. No, no, like, because it's voluntary. So they don't have to leave if they don't want to. And then the government was thinking like, oh, shit, this is going to be a problem for us. This is a side note, okay? But it reminds me of this time I was on the cheer team in high school. Yeah, I was on the cheer team. I know it might be hard to imagine, but I was. I was like, yay, one, two, three.

But there was this time when the cheer coach was asking for mandatory donations for the squad to pay for, I don't know. She said like cheer related stuff, but nobody really knows what it was for. What we do know is that she drove, the coach, she drove some like nice ass cars. Okay, but it was real suspish because isn't mandatory donation technically an oxymoron?

But here's the kicker. If you didn't donate to this mandatory donation, then you would be kicked off. Well, someone ratted on her. It was my mom. And turns out what she was doing was totally illegal. And I believe she got fired. But the point is, if something is voluntary, then it really should be voluntary, right? Like you would think that, right?

Okay, enough about my cheerleading nonsense. Let's pause for an ad break really quick. BRB. Hi. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24, 7, 365 days a year so you're protected no matter what.

This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.

Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash DarkHistory today to get 10% off your first month.

That's betterhelp.com slash dark history. So now a line in the sand was drawn. Native Americans were doubting Jackson's removal act idea since he made it voluntary and they obviously didn't volunteer to walk 1,000 miles. They were like, yeah, fuck off, dude. No, this is our land. This is our home. No, we're good.

So now Andrew is in the hot seat and needs to do something. So Andrew's like, hold my beer and my bath salts. And he set his sights on the Choctaw tribe. Now, white people at this time, they didn't hate Choctaws as much as they disliked other Native Americans because Choctaws had fought alongside them in the War of 1812. So they're fighting side by side together on the same team.

Now, the Choctaws, they signed a deal with the government that offered a huge plot of land in Oklahoma in trade for their land in Mississippi, right? Okay. And in 1831, the Choctaw became the first nation to be kicked out of their land altogether, which is fucked up because, again, they're fighting alongside the white people, right? Like they had their back. How come no one had their back?

You get it. Now, they made the journey to Oklahoma on foot with no food, no supplies, and really no other help from the government. Thousands of people died along the way. One Choctaw leader told a newspaper that it was a trail of tears and death. Now, this is where the name for the story came from. It was the first time we hear the name Trail of Tears. It's such a sad name.

Today, the Choctaw calls this event removals because of how closely the name Trail of Tears is tied to the Cherokee removal. And the important thing here is that the Choctaw, they were the first group to relocate. Now remember, they had a pretty okay relationship with the white people. And even then, they still got freaking screwed over. So other tribes saw how they were treated and were like, no, we can't trust anything you say. And we're just not going to go.

So next up are the Seminoles. Now, they were extremely badass, honestly. And after the way the Choctaws were treated, they weren't going to fall for any of the United States government's shenanigans. Remember in the Andrew Jackson episode when he wanted to take Florida and he went after some Native Americans who were housing former slaves? Well, if you didn't remember, that's what was going on. Well, that was the Seminoles. And they didn't actually leave Florida after that.

Now that Andrew wants them to move again, this time they're prepared, okay? They're ready to fight for it and basically take the United States Army to war. In this war, they were cuddy and used all sorts of like guerrilla tactics and even had formerly enslaved people fighting alongside them. The war ended up costing Andrew Jackson like $40 million, which is way more than he ever wanted to spend on this shit. So you know, you know he was pissed. I mean, he hates losing.

But the Seminoles, they fought for like 13 years, three wars, and just kept getting screwed over by the government to the point that...

Well, they were just tired. Eventually, the United States government let them keep some of their land in Florida around the Everglades. And then there were others who took payment and headed off to Oklahoma. So next up, the Creeks. Now, they did not want to leave their land. Well, correction, none of them wanted to leave. But the Creeks really were like, nay, no.

No, no, you are not taking this land. And if you remember, they already lost a huge portion of their land when Andrew Jackson attacked them around like 1814, before he was even president.

Remember in my Andrew Jackson episode when he was like going around cutting off their noses and like he stole a baby? That was this. Anyway, they didn't wanna leave because this is where they live. This is where their ancestors are buried. This is their home. So they came to an agreement with the United States government, signed some documents where the United States government was like, okay, fine, we'll protect your land, but only if you give us some of it first.

That's already a little suspicious. You know, like that logic makes not a lot of sense, but okay. Well, guess what the United States did? Not protect their land, of course. Why would they? Not very reliable, are they? Colonizers cheated them out of it and the government did nothing to stop it. So the Creeks, they're pissed, obviously, and running out of options since the agreements they signed were not really in their favor to begin with.

So they would do things like steal livestock and burn down the farms of white people who honestly deserved it, in my personal opinion. Now the government wants to step in, but it's to forcibly remove the remaining Creeks. 15,000 Creek Nation people would migrate in 1837 to what the United States government called Indian Territory, or what we know today as, maybe you guessed it,

Oklahoma. I know what you're thinking. Why Oklahoma? Because I was thinking the same thing. Why did they choose Oklahoma? You see, the United States, they had the land, but it wasn't land the country was doing anything with like at this time. It was just kind of there. It was essentially what the government considered leftovers. So they're like, here, take that. Bye.

Then we have the Chickasaw. Now they saw everything a bit differently than the other tribes. Instead of digging their heels in and saying like, "We must defend our homeland." Don't get me wrong, they wanted to defend their homeland, but they chose to come to an agreement in 1832 knowing what could come if they didn't. So they're trying to think ahead. That's why they signed the agreement. So they took the payment and they left their native land in 1837.

So the chick saw relocated to Oklahoma too, which then leads us to the Cherokee. Let's first pause for a word from our sponsor. I know ad breaks are annoying, but...

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Your cash back really adds up. Welcome back. So let's try to remember that this isn't just about the people moving to a new place. This isn't like when your sister moved to New York City for six months. Like we all want to work in fashion when we're 21, Gina. You're not special. You know, not only did these people have to walk, walk to Oklahoma, they had to give up their homeland.

This wasn't just about losing homes. This wasn't just about losing land. This wasn't about losing money. Honestly, they probably didn't give a rat's ass about American money at all. It probably meant nothing to them, right? I mean, just like how they viewed the land differently than the colonizers. They had been fine without Western money for generations, right? This was about the potential for them to lose their souls, their spirituality, their identity, and their freaking future. This is something all the tribes had to deal with.

Before everything went down, the Cherokee, many years before, came to an agreement with the United States that their land in Georgia belonged to them, the tribe. Well, that upset Andrew Jackson. He wants that land and someone's telling him no. We know how that goes. Well, you know how that goes.

Andrew said it was unconstitutional for natives to have their own land without the state approving it. And Georgia, they didn't agree to this and they were not approving this. The option was for the Cherokees to give up their land or there was going to be problems. There's going to be problems. The Cherokee tribe stayed put on their lands because, you know, it was their land and they came to a freaking agreement.

Around the time the Indian Removal Act was signed into law, over on Cherokee land, somebody accidentally discovered some gold. Great, great. Well, Georgia State ended up passing a law

Us white people are shady as fuck. Okay, because Georgia State ended up passing a law that said all gold, silver, and other mines found within Georgia land were property of Georgia, even if it was on Cherokee land. I'm telling you, when white dudes want something, they just freaking take it. Rock and roll. I'm looking at you. I'm looking at you.

It only took two and a half weeks for the Georgia government to step in and seize the Cherokees' land. Now that there was some precious gold found in the area, there was much more urgency to, like, step in and snatch it up. I don't care if your family lives here. I just bought some flippy flops, and I need, like, that gold for a cute toe ring, is what I imagine they're thinking. Probably. Well...

The Cherokee, once again, are not going to give up easy and took their case all the way up to the Supreme Court. Basically, the court ruled that states couldn't make laws that went against treaties with the natives and also that the federal government needed to make sure white intruders stayed the hell out of native lands. It's not your place. I mean, how could these people just come in and like all of a sudden tell them what to do? It just, it made no damn sense. Right?

The Supreme Court agreed and told Georgia they couldn't take Cherokee land. Yay, you know? Yay. Now, if you've been listening and you are familiar with Andrew Jackson at this point, I'm sure you're aware that he was not happy about this. He was pissed right the fuck off. So what did you expect?

When the Supreme Court wouldn't let the United States have the Cherokees land, Andrew played dumb and pretended he knew nothing. No law was passed or anything. He went against the treaties and figured in a nation as big as the Cherokees, there has to be like a few of them who are willing to negotiate, you know? So Andrew reached out to about 500 tribe members and offered them a quote unquote good deal.

Money was offered to help relocate the tribe to Oklahoma. They would compensate for any lost property on their journey or anything that got left behind. And in trade, the United States would get all of their land. Like, yay. You know, it sounds like a good offer. Maybe. I don't know.

But keep in mind, this should have never even happened, right? The Supreme Court had already decided that the Cherokees could keep their land and didn't have to move in the first place. But these 500 Cherokees within the tribe had a debate and decided to go ahead and sign the deal with Andrew Jackson.

Not a good move, not a good move. But I'm sure like they didn't have any bad intentions with it. It's just, they knew, I think they knew like trouble was a Bruin. I don't know, I can't speak for them, but 500 of them signed it, you know? The issue was that although they were members of the Cherokee Nation, they weren't leaders of the tribe. So they weren't allowed to speak for the Cherokee Nation as a whole, you know? Like who was the leader? It was a guy named John Ross. He was the principal chief.

And he did not sign the agreement. And it upset him so much when he found out others had signed it that he started his own petition in protest of the deal. The principal chief was able to get 16,000 members of the Cherokee tribe to sign his petition. Can you imagine getting 16,000 signatures on something before the internet?

before cars. I couldn't even get one customer to sign up for a reward card when I worked at Best Buy. So that's very impressive. Anyway, Andrew didn't care. He sees the signatures. He's like, "Man, I don't care. What's that? No." You know, and he just ignores it. Sneaky as hell. But once the treaty was signed and sealed with those original like 500 members who agreed to it, it was a done deal. And the land now belonged to the United States.

Sad face because that's fucked up. So the government gave the Cherokee two years to get the hell out. Okay? And the government promised them if they didn't leave the land, they were going to be removed by force. So they're threatening them. Well, it's Andrew Jackson Bailey. Are you surprised? No, I'm not. Great talk we had. Imagine how mad the rest of the tribe was when they found out they had two years to leave when they just heard from the Supreme Court that they didn't have to leave at all.

So some of the Cherokee tribe are thinking like, hey, what happens if we wait until Andrew Jackson isn't president anymore? Like maybe this new president that comes in will have our back and let us keep our land. So they kind of waited out for a couple of years. So the next president that came into office, he was smart, skilled, and a very educated politician. So they're thinking, yay, you know, like, yay, someone's going to be on our side. Someone has a freaking brain around here, finally.

Now that's Mr. Martin Van Buren. Even his name sounds like a Disney villain name, right? He had no problem finishing what Andrew Jackson started. And he did it all with a crooked smile on his face. Boo. Before we get into shithead Martin Van Buren, let's...

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.

Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash darkhistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash darkhistory. Like I was saying, this new president, Marty Van Buren, comes in, okay? And he's

At this time, the United States was experiencing like a major financial crisis. Because his policies totally sucked balls, Marty took out all of his built up aggression and anger on the natives. It was like the one thing he felt like he could control. Marty had a reputation for being super well dressed, but an asshole. And you know, an asshole is still an asshole, even if it's dressed up in something fancy. So, okay, that means a lot. Plus on top of that, he was short.

Like short, short. So I personally believe that he probably had a Napoleon complex, you know, little man, big ego. Seems to be a common theme during this time. I don't know what happens when people get in that White House, but well, I don't blame him. Your ego would probably get inflated in the White House. Yeah. But do you have to murder a bunch of people? No.

Anyways, so quickly after taking over office, Van Buren sent troops to the Cherokee Nation to round up every member of the tribe and imprison them in what we now consider concentration camps. At the time, they considered them holding camps to just like get them ready for their upcoming journey.

But really, these places were horrific, okay? Now, I tell you stories about murder and death every week on my YouTube, you know? But let me tell you, this shit is about to get really dark. Well, by the year 1838, 2,000 Cherokee had voluntarily left and headed to Oklahoma. So they got like a head start, I guess. I don't know. 16,000 Cherokee remained on their land.

The U.S. government stepped in again, this time sending 7,000 troops to force them out. When the troops came in, they went into their homes and threatened their lives if they didn't leave. Parents or children returned home from work or play to find their family had been kicked out. In some cases, like dinner was still on the table. They just kicked them out.

They were not allowed to grab any of their belongings. And as they left, white people came in and looted their homes. They were just like taking everything. Because remember, this is new American land and white people were so eager to settle in it. So they're just freaking vultures. The remaining Cherokee on their land were sent to the holding camps.

The Cherokees were kept in such close quarters and under such intense guard that any ounce of privacy was impossible. And there were, like, no toilet facilities. I mean, I'm sure, like, the least of their worries is going potty, you know? But could you imagine? Everyone's tight space. I mean, what the fuck? There were times when they had to lie naked on the ground, often exposed to the hot-ass sun and just freaking awful weather.

Many would end up passing away due to the brutal, inhumane conditions. About 2,000 Cherokee died from disease there. And again, this was before they even headed on their journey. With nothing left, many of the Cherokee members began the march known as the Trail of Tears. So they were heading to the western lands on foot. And it wasn't like a nature walk with a little path and road markers. This was pure roughing it.

Over the next year, the Cherokee tribe would split up into smaller groups. And since there wasn't just one path, the groups each took their own path to get to Oklahoma. I'm doing like this with my hand movements if you're watching over on YouTube because there were many different paths taken. Some like took a long ass way. Some went, it just, it varied on what group you were in. The average mileage one would walk in the summer was around a thousand miles. Again, on foot.

1,000 miles on foot in summer. My God. That's like walking from Los Angeles to Seattle or like Chicago to New Orleans or Tennessee to Oklahoma 'cause that's what they literally did. So as you've gathered, that's very far. Yes. There were government troops with them that would follow, lead and watch the Cherokee tribe for about a third of their journey to make sure that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing.

keeping them in check. So they would travel about 10 miles per day in a three mile long caravan of people. Like imagine if someone in the front has to stop for something, how do you even communicate with one another three miles back? How do you do that? You know, I don't know, but they did it.

Some of the elderly and young people would ride in wagons. Pretty much everyone else, though, was on foot. It didn't matter if it was boiling hot, muddy, or snowy. I mean, they didn't have a choice. And remember, a lot of them didn't even have their belongings with them.

So let's talk about food, because it wasn't good. They would mainly eat salted pork and flour, and there wasn't enough of it, so they had to find food as they went. Sometimes people would venture off from the group to go hunt for turkeys or deer, which they would use to feed themselves, but...

It wasn't always available. People starved, especially in the winter. Did I mention that they went through this like during both summer and winter? It was a long ass journey. Even water was a challenge. They'd have to dig it out of the snow and ice. And the other water challenge was the rivers.

The Mississippi River had to be crossed, and rumor has it, it's not some kind of smooth, calm river. It's pretty treacherous. There's no paved roads. There's no bridges. Just super deep and unforgiving waters. And then all of your stuff is wet. Half of the river is frozen in the winter, and you're like...

Okay, are we gonna cross on the ice? Can it hold us? Are we swimming across? What's going on? And then you know once you're wet, in a survival situation,

That can be a huge problem, and it definitely was for them. It would lead to all sorts of diseases, and any disease that showed up along the trail would run rampant among everyone. And these were diseases which are mostly preventable now, like dysentery, measles, and whooping cough. But back then, in conditions like this, even a fever could just kill you.

These diseases killed so many people that they had to bury their loved ones along the way. On top of this, the soldiers that were supposed to protect and guide them, they were sexually abusing the Cherokee women. Every possible bad thing that could happen was happening on this death march.

It's fucked up. By 1839, the relocations finally came to an end. The exact number of Cherokees that died on their journey, honestly, will never really be known. The most common number that people estimate is like around 4,000 people, which was about 25% of the entire Cherokee nation at the time.

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So the Cherokee tribe was assigned different areas in what we now know as Oklahoma. But back then it was unsettled, just like open land. The Cherokee tribe had to completely start from scratch. I mean, schools, houses, stores, their farmlands, literally everything to function as a society. Could you imagine walking a thousand miles and it's like, okay, you're here. Now build a house.

You know what I found to be very interesting? The first thing they built was a Supreme Court, which I thought was like, what? Why? You know, I don't know. It was just a genuine thought I had. What? Why?

But then when you really think about it, it's pretty dang smart, okay? Their Supreme Court would hopefully prevent them from getting totally screwed over by the United States government again, like they literally had just been. I take it as a power move. Some more shit happened when the United States decided to make Oklahoma an official state.

AKA repeat cycle, okay? This meant that the native tribes no longer were in complete control over the land they were once again promised.

But it wasn't like before where they just got kicked out. It was just now they had the U.S. government as a closer neighbor. But at least now they could still function as their own government. So where are all the tribes now? Thousands upon thousands of Native people had died during these death marches on their journey west. And when they arrived, they managed to rebuild like the Cherokee.

The United States had made promises to the native people that they failed to keep. Actually, they didn't fail to keep them. They went out of their way to break them.

Not all of the native people in the southeast made the journey on the Trail of Tears. There are still small groups of each tribe in their original homeland, but the bulk of their land ownership was moved to Oklahoma. These Oklahoma territories are still there today. They're occupied by the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee people. But that doesn't mean things are perfect, like it's all easy peasy for them and everything's improved and perfect.

The United States government still to this day looks for ways in which they can take more of their land. I mean, just take a goddamn look at Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills area where Mount Rushmore is was sacred to the Lakota and Cheyenne tribes. Then white people discovered gold in the region, right? So the United States government looks

came in, took their land, worker crews came out, they put dynamite in the hill or with the mountain, and then they put white men on it. Oh, that a big middle finger, huh? Thanks.

Even more recently, the Keystone Pipeline in the Dakotas, South Dakota. Native groups were pissed because it was cutting right through their land and it posed as a huge risk to the wildlife, which they needed to hunt for food, for drinking water, and for their safety.

Of course, big oil went for it anyway. And just like the natives predicted, the pipe burst and made a huge oil spill only to have the project canceled a couple years later. So all that destruction of nature for freaking nothing. Thanks.

All five removed tribes stand as successful sovereign nations, proudly preserving cultural traditions while adapting to the challenges of the 21st century. The Cherokee removal in particular is considered to be one of America's darkest moments in history.

In 1987, the United States Congress turned the Trail of Tears into a national historic trail that's over 2,200 miles and across nine different states. Now get this, it's actually shorter than the trail the Native Americans had walked, 'cause there's like stuff in the way now, but okay, you know? It wasn't until 2004, 2004, that the United States Senate offered a formal apology for what had taken place during the Trail of Tears.

I'm not sure what to say to follow that, but you know. There's a through line in this entire story. They wanted to eradicate the Native Americans. They chose Oklahoma because it was a hard place to live. There was nothing there. Jackson wanted a white nation. The colonizers wanted more land to exploit. Van Buren wanted to, I don't know, be a dick. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. You know? And just because you want something doesn't mean you freaking deserve it.

You know what the Native Americans wanted? They probably just wanted to be left alone, to continue living on the land that they called home for centuries before Europeans ever showed up. This isn't like our other episodes where we just tell you a story about an evil company or something. This story was dark from the jump.

I wanted to cover it because it's easy to say like, oh yeah, that's super fucked up, you know, but it's our job to like look this shit in the eye and talk about what exactly went down because the least we can do is remember their stories and honor the real history behind it all. So what's the conclusion here? That sucks. I think we can all agree like that freaking sucks. I don't know. America sucks. People suck. Everything freaking sucks. I'm laughing because it's uncomfortable.

It's hard to not focus on the evil and mistreatment and racism of the United States government towards Native Americans. But I think what's also important about this whole story is when you focus on the resilience and strength of those who pushed through the awful tragedy.

but they managed to preserve their culture and traditions. You know, you don't hear about genocides in America, but this took place in our own country, not somewhere like far away, you know, and it's not being acknowledged in the right way, wouldn't you say? America is so quick to point the finger, but we, I'm gonna say we, because I'm in America right now, great, we can't seem to own our own shit, right? The

The best way to give a big middle freaking finger to Jackson, Van Buren, and all the colonizers is to persist. For a while now, I've seen comments on my murder mystery makeup videos asking if I could please do a story about the Trail of Tears. And let me tell you, let me tell you, I definitely tried so many different times because it's so dense. It was really hard to make it fit into my Monday upload.

But this show is a different beast. I mean, I don't really know what I'm doing here yet fully, but like, I think it's a different beast. And I thought, hey, like, let's talk about it on this show, right? Because at least here I can give it a little bit more justice. But again, there are a ton of layers to this story. And it's honestly really impossible to tell the full thing in 45 minutes, right?

So I'm saying, I'm suggesting you should absolutely read more about this story on your own. This is one of those things that kind of gets glossed over in history class. Maybe they spend a day on it or so, and it really shouldn't be. Hell, I personally, I don't think I even learned about this in school. Or maybe I did. I just need to stop doing drugs. But there was basically a genocide in our own backyard.

The president, who was honored on a $20 bill, systematically removed thousands of Native Americans and we barely talk about it. Yet the five tribes are all still around today. They resisted removal. They were not exterminated. And they persisted. If you want to continue to learn more, like I do, here are some resources for you. The National Museum of the American Indian

Their mission is to foster a richer shared human experience through a more informed understanding of Native people. You can learn more on their website at AmericanIndian.si.edu. You can also learn more about the Cherokee Nation by visiting Cherokee.org.

As always, I will have additional resources linked in the show notes, but I want to hear your guys' thoughts. So let's continue the conversation over on socials using the hashtag darkhistory.

Join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And also catch my Murder, Mystery, and Makeup, which drops on Mondays. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today. I hope maybe you learned something new. But other than that, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. You make good choices, and I'll be talking to you next week. Bye!

Dark History is an Audioboom original. The podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Chelsea Durgan from Slash Management, and Ed Simpson from Wheelhouse DNA. Producer, Lexi Kiven, Daryl Christon, and Spencer Strassmore. Research provided by Elizabeth Hyman and Jed Bookout. Writers, Jed Bookout, Michael Oberst, Joey Scavuzzo, and me, Bailey Sarian.

A big thank you to today's historical consultants, Professor Jeff Osler from the University of Oregon and author of Surviving Genocide, Native Nations and the United States from the American Revolution to Bleeding Kansas, published by Yale University Press in 2019.

Dr. Michael Landis, Clay Jenkinson, and Bradley Wagnon, author of How the World Was Made and The Land of the Great Turtles, available in both Cherokee and English. I'm your host, Princess of the Dark, I think. Maybe not. I don't know. Bailey Sarian.