I began thinking about all the forced migrations in America's history while reading the textbook Contemporary Human Geography. The true natives of this country were forced to migrate from the lands they knew and had adapted with, to lands that were harsh and unknown to them. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 brought about the interregional migration of the Southeast Indians. The Southeast Indians were replaced to a newly created Indian Territory known today as Oklahoma. The first tribe to be moved were the Choctaw. My husband's family is Choctaw and his family over the generations have held on to their folk culture while adjusting to popular culture. The struggle to keep their identity did not come with out a great price though.
The Choctaw were forced to migrate from their home land through a series of treaties with the United States government in the early nineteenth century. The Choctaw traded some of their land for protection that the government was to give them. However, some of the government's tactics led to the Choctaw relinquishing all of their land. One such tactic is known today as the factory system. This was a system in which the government trading posts encouraged the Choctaw to buy many items on credit which resulted in huge debt for the Choctaw. The outcome was that the government seized all lands to pay back the debt that had been acquired.
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The United States government's treaties with the Choctaw eventually led to the government moving the tribe to Oklahoma. The forced migration that occurred is known today as the “Trail of Tears” and resulted in 19,554 Choctaw being moved (Watson, 1999). The government split up the Choctaw into three groups so as to easily move them. The first group experienced cruel conditions. Much of the money that had been set aside by the government for the move had been swindled by corrupt officials. Many suppliers took advantage of the situation and charged the government three times more than expected. This resulted in the first group having little supplies and left many malnourished (Sutton, 2008, p.341). The first group also experienced bad weather and disorganization amongst the government officials who led the migration.
The second group of Choctaws experienced cholera. They also were forced to walk more due to the government trying to save money. This was at the cost of many Choctaw's lives and their strength. The third group experienced much of what the first and second group experienced. It was estimated that 2,500 of the 12,500 Choctaws that were moved did not survive the “Trail of Tears”(Watson, 1999). The deaths were caused by malnutrition, disease, exposure, and the lack of supplies that resulted in the government officials stealing much of the money that had been set aside.
The Choctaw's long journey had not ended at their arrival to their new home. They still had a lot of adapting and struggles to overcome at their new home.
References
Debo, A. (1961). The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, Publishing Division of the University.
Milligan, J. (2003). The Choctaw of Oklahoma. Washington, D.C: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma with the Library of Congress.
Sutton, M. (2008). An Introduction to Native North America, Third Edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, INC.
Watson, Chris. (1999). The Choctaw Trail of Tears. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma website. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.thebicyclingguitarist.net/studies/trailoftears.htm.
