The territory in the Land of the Cherokees once covered eight states, but the Cherokees were forced to relocate to Oklahoma (then called Indian Territory) to make room for white settlers. The "Trail of Tears" was the forced removal (by the United States government) of the Cherokee Nation from its ancestral homeland in parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama to land set aside for American Indians in what is now the state of Oklahoma. Cherokee call this trail “Nunna-da-ul-tsun-yi”, meaning "The Place Where They Cried."
The Cherokees journey by water and land was over a thousand miles long, during which over 4,000 Cherokees died of disease and starvation along the way. Tragically, the story is also one of conflict within the Cherokee Nation as it struggled to hold on to its land and its culture in the face of overwhelming force. This videoconference and lesson plan will bring to life the story of the Trail of Tears and the Cherokee Nation in the 1830s.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009– “WALKING THE CHEROKEE TRAIL OF TEARS” with Jerry Ellis in the Hot Topics series Targeted Audience: students in grades 4 – 12
Time: 9:00 and 10:00 AM (CENTRAL time zone)
Format: 45-minutes formatted into 30-minute presentation, and then 15-20 minute Q & A
Cost: $75 per site
Questions: Chandra Allison, at (615) 322-6511 or email chandra.allison@vanderbilt.edu
REGISTER: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/virtualschool/registration.htm
