When I was driving south through Virginia, I found myself on the Seminole Trail. This made me think of Osceola. He was a great leader of the Seminole people, outspoken in his resistance to the removal of his people.
Removal. What a sad word. To take an entire people (actually, several nations) and remove them from the place where they and their ancestors had lived for many generations.
“Removal” had become a law, sadly, horribly, in 1830. In spite of great resistance by Osceola, the Cherokee nation, and many others—even white citizens —thousands of native people were forced to move west. The law was worded that there would be “an exchange of lands.” Of course it was not a very fair exchange at all because 1) The vast, bountiful lands of the lush and fertile Southeast would be “exchanged” for the not-so-lush lands of Oklahoma. 2) The people would be forced to walk thousands of miles to move to their “new land.” In fact, several overland routes and one main water route stretched some 5,045 miles across portions of nine states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and part of Oklahoma). And unlike what is understood in common culture, it was not only the Cherokee who were forced to walk on what turned out to be, more accurately, a death march. The Creek (Muscogee), Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole were also forced to take that torturously long walk. (These were the five so-called “civilized tribes.” They had attempted to assimilate into the dominant culture which was being forced upon them. Many, as you will see below, were very well educated. Unfortunately, none of this deterred the American government from forcing them to move away from their homelands.)
Complicating matters further, gold was discovered on Cherokee territory. The state of Georgia, ignoring Cherokee laws and sovereignty, started holding lotteries to give away land and gold rights on land that was lived on and stewarded by the Cherokee for thousands of years. Leaders of the Cherokee took this matter of Cherokee sovereignty to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1832. Amazingly, they won! But shamefully, President Jackson refused to abide by the decision. Read more HERE.
As for the Relocation Act of 1830, there was widespread resistance to it among the Cherokee. John Ross famously resisted it, writing a most eloquent Memorial and Protest of the Cherokee Nation and sent it to Congress in June 1836, arguing that the US government had no legal grounds for the relocation. Other articulate Cherokee wrote articles and opinion pieces against this law, while others traveled around the country speaking out against it. The majority of Cherokee opposed the law. Unfortunately, one small faction of Cherokee went behind the backs of the majority and, even though they were not elected officials, illegally signed the Treaty of New Echota, allowing the U.S. government to move forward with relocation efforts.
Meanwhile, back to Osceola. Originally named Bill Powell, his mother was Creek (Muscogee) and his father a Scot. He was brought up as a traditional Creek, but when he was young, the family moved to Florida and he became part of the Seminole people. In 1836, when the U.S. government tried to force the Seminole to relocate to “Indian Territory” (Oklahoma), Osceola became a leader in the resistance movement. He continued to fight it until he was invited to come to some peace talks near Fort Peyton in Florida. When he arrived, instead of negotiating peace, they captured him and kept him imprisoned— first in St. Augustine and then later in Charleston, South Carolina. The public was outraged about this treachery. While in prison, Osceola suffered greatly from malaria, tonsilitis, and an ulcer. His health was declining. Sensing what was coming, he asked the doctor if he would please send his body to Florida after he died. The doctor agreed, and then in truly horrific fashion, after Osceola died, he instead beheaded his corpse and displayed the head in his drugstore for all to see.
Our history books and old TV shows are replete with stories about “savage Indians,” but as is plain to see, the white people are the real savages.
