Trail+of+Tears

[|Trail of Tears documentary]

Your group will act out on the Trail of Tears following these steps: Step 1: Circle the character your group has been assigned. > settled on former Indian land > Cherokees to Indian Territory
 * White Georgian who recently
 * Andrew Jackson
 * Armed soldier escorting
 * Elderly Native American
 * Native American teenager
 * Native American mother of three
 * Young Native American warrior

Step 2: Discuss the questions below. Make sure that everyone in your group can answer each question so that everyone is prepared to be the actor. • Why are Indians being removed from their homelands? • Is the policy of Indian removal fair? Why or why not? • How has the policy changed your life? • What do you think should happen now?

Step 3: Discuss ways that the person who is chosen to perform can make the character come alive. Use visual and written information to brainstorm ways to make the characterization realistic. Make or collect simple props to use during the act-it-out.

[|Helpful site on Indian Removal]

Suggestions for strategies for survival forged by Native Americans:
 * Held uprisings against whites
 * Joined the whites (for example, a unit of Pawnee scouts in Nebraska was trained by Frank and Luther North to serve the U.S. Army)
 * Resisted occupation, usurping of land
 * Negotiated treaties (for example, 1867–68 Medicine Lodge Treaties—Plains leaders accepted permanent lands within Indian Territory)
 * Resigned to relocation
 * Adopted use of peyote from Mexicans as a sacrament
 * Held first International Indian Fair (1873) in Oklahoma
 * 1878–79: Flight of Northern Cheyenne under Dull Knife from Indian Territory to northern plains
 * 1880 Drum Religion founded by Sioux
 * 1889 Ghost Dance movement founded by Northern Paiute prophet