Latest news with #TrailofTears
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Our racial history is shadowed. Will Oklahoma repeat its past mistakes or learn from them?
A sign marks Black Wall Street at North Greenwood Avenue and East Archer Street in Tulsa. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) Our state has a shadowed history when it comes to racial issues that includes the forced removal of Native Americans on Trail of Tears, the slaughter of Black residents during Tulsa Race Massacre and a 2007 law touted to be the nation's harshest anti-immigrant state law. I've long watched as Oklahoma's elected officials have failed to learn from and rectify that dark history. Instead, they've oft chosen to embark on campaigns that seem to further highlight those past inequities. It had seemed that we were growing more comfortable with teaching public school students about these dark tales. My administrators were supportive of history teachers teaching about injustices in our criminal justice system, lawful racial segregation and the abuse of immigrants. In fact, I was allowed to discuss how the best of our pioneer spirit has been intertwined with immigration from a variety of countries. Immigrants brought with them the values of hard work, family and community. But today, we are again seeing a cruel backlash against migrants and communities who are racially different. That backlash has included prohibitions against discussing 'race' in schools. State Superintendent Ryan Walters has attempted to pass a requirement that 'students must provide proof of U.S. citizenship when enrolling in public school.' It would also force schools to report to the state the number of students 'who couldn't verify legal residency or citizenship.' Moreover, under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, some Oklahoma law enforcement officers can 'arrest individuals without a warrant if they are suspected of violating immigration laws' if it is believed that they 'are likely to evade capture.' But even that raises the question as to who makes that judgment call. Oklahoma City has been in the headlines after a mother and her daughters were traumatized by a raid conducted at the wrong home by federal officers. They were forced outside their apartment in their underclothes by agents who had misidentified them. The officers ripped up their home, seized phones and took much of the woman's life savings. And, they didn't give any information about getting her property back. And Gov. Kevin Stitt recently generated ire when he vetoed a bill funding the Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons on the national advocacy day that brings attention to the crisis. Hours before his veto, Indigenous advocates were rallying outside the state Capitol to bring attention to the fact that our state has the second highest number of missing Native Americans. Stitt argued in his veto message that 'justice must be blind to race.' I'll also never forget when lawmakers passed the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, which was designed to be the nation's harshest anti-immigrant state law. After that law took effect, federal agents would intimidate parents as they dropped their kids off at elementary schools. When one of my student's family was deported for legally driving down the Broadway Extension, they were forced to get down on their knees. They unsuccessfully begged the police officer to not turn them over to ICE. The law accomplished nothing except for spreading a 'culture of fear,' and opposition to it grew. As Hispanic workers exited the state, business leaders, church congregations, and civil rights advocates joined the fight against anti-immigrant racism. I'm encouraged that today's cycle of cruelty is also bringing forth another, and I believe larger, side of our nation and state, which is coming to the defense of immigrants. For instance, there has been bipartisan pushback, including by Stitt, against Walters' support for immigration raids in schools, and collecting information about immigrants that would be turned over to the federal government. But we're at a crossroads. Do we embrace the dark side, which has traditionally been driven by fear and racism, or do we embrace a path of inclusionary hope that aims to not repeat the mistakes of our past? Today's attacks on immigrants are an outgrowth of our dark side, but I have reason to believe that we'll choose the path of hope by learning from the sordid sides of our past. I believe there will be a time again when our political leaders recognize the proven economic benefits brought by undocumented workers. I believe we'll again recognize the harm that is done to our reputation when Oklahoma doesn't stand up for its residents. Because if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that doing the right thing always encourages economic investments, entrepreneurs, and brings new opportunities to our state. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Graves of two enslaved Trail of Tears survivors marked by Oklahoma TOTA
Will ChavezCherokee Phoenix HULBERT – For the first time, the Oklahoma Trail of Tears Association marked the graves of Cherokee Freedmen who survived the Trail of Tears that occurred in 1838 and 1839. The grave marking ceremony for Harry Buffington and Dorcas Bushyhead Buffington took place on April 12 at the Gadugi Cemetery near Hulbert and was attended by numerous family members, Cherokee Nation officials and community members. During the ceremony, Ashawna Miles read the biography of her grandmother, Dorcas. 'I'm so honored to have this opportunity to have the grave marking take place. This is my fifth great-grandmother, and just knowing the sacrifice and everything she did to get my family where we are at today she deserves the honor,' Miles said before the ceremony. 'Having her grave marked we are able to show that she was one of the individuals that came on the Trail of Tears. It's just an honor.' She added she hopes the marking of her grandparents' graves will be a catalyst for having more graves of Cherokee slaves and former slaves marked. 'I came to see my sixth great-grandparents be recognized for walking on the Trail of Tears, said Gary McGhee who read the biography for his grandfather Harry Buffington. 'We did our family tree, and after that we came out here and was looking around and was like, 'oh my god, this is Harry right here and Dorcas right here,' and we started figuring out all of these people we knew were on our family tree were buried here together. So, we thought let's do more research and figure out who is who, and this is how far it brought us now, them being recognized as walking on the Trail of Tears.' Harry Buffington was born into slavery circa 1813 in Cherokee Nation east. The names of his parents have not been preserved. Dawes Commission records indicate his slaveholder was Charles Buffington, a half-blood Cherokee, who resided in Brasstown, current-day Clay County, North Carolina, prior to the Trail of Tears. The 1835 Cherokee census indicates that Harry was the only slave held by this family. Traveling with the Buffington family, Harry would have been on the Cherokee forced removal west in the Choowalooky/Wofford Detachment which left the east on Oct. 27, 1838, and arrived in the west on March 1, 1839. The Buffingtons settled in the Beatties Prairie area, now Delaware County. About 1840, Harry married Dorcas Bushyhead at the Baptist Mission north of present-day Westville. They were married by Rev. Jesse Bushyhead. Dorcas and Harry were the parents of 15 children, seven of whom lived to adulthood: Harry, Lucy Ann, Josephine, Margaret, Narcissa, Ambrose and Chancy. In addition, Harry was the father of another son, Henry Buffington, whose mother's name is not known. After the start of the Civil War, Harry enlisted as a private in the Union Army at Baxter Springs, Kansas, on July 11, 1862, and served with Company K of the Third Indian Home Guard. He served as a hospital orderly, likely in Fort Gibson. In February 1863, the month following President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, the Cherokee Council emancipated slaves in the CN. Therefore, Harry would have been discharged from his military service in April 1865 as a freed man. After the war, the Harry and Dorcas' family farmed in the Tahlequah district northeast of Fort Gibson. He died suddenly of heat stroke at his home on June 24, 1884, and was buried in the Sol Harlan Cemetery. The graves in this cemetery were removed in 1951 due to the construction of Fort Gibson Lake and now rest in the Gadugi Cemetery. Dorcas Bushyhead Buffington was born an enslaved person in 1824 on Candy's Creek, Cherokee Nation east in present-day McMinn County, Tennessee. Her mother, Patsy, had been a slave of Edward Wilkerson. Patsy later became a slave of Edward's daughter, Eliza, who was married to Rev. Jesse Bushyhead. Dorcas' father was a three-eighths Cherokee, Charles Foreman, who was a first cousin of Rev. Bushyhead. The Bushyhead family is indicated as having four slaves on the 1835 Cherokee Nation census. Jesse Bushyhead was appointed by Chief John Ross as one of 13 detachment conductors during the forced removal of the CN over the Trail of Tears. The Bushyhead detachment left on Oct. 6, 1838, and arrived in the west on Feb. 27, 1839. Dorcas made the journey of over 800 miles as a 15-year-old girl. After Dorcas married Harry Buffington about 1840, it appears they continued to live near present-day Westville prior to the Civil War and probably all of their 15 children were born there. Dorcas claimed in her pension affidavit that she had bought her freedom from Mrs. Bushyhead about 1856 prior to the birth of her younger children, but no official records are available to verify this. If this is true, she was already a free woman when the Civil War began in April 1861 and when the Cherokee Nation abolished slavery in February 1863. In March 1863, she took up nursing duties for the Union Army. She indicated that she served mainly at the hospital in Fort Gibson and for a short time at a temporary Union hospital in Neosho, Missouri, and perhaps in encampments where injured soldiers were found. In 1894, she was granted a pension from the United States for her service as a nurse during the war and was receiving $12 month at her death. Dorcas died, likely at her home near Hulbert, on Nov. 22, 1913. She too was buried at the Sol Harlan Cemetery but due to the creation of Fort Gibson Lake was reinterred at present-day Gadugi Cemetery in 1951. During the marking ceremony, Cherokee songwriter and performer Becky Hobbs sang 'Tsa la gi, We Are Many,' and Cinda Rose Gilford read a poem titled, 'We Cried Your Tears.' National President of the Trail of Tears Association Jack Baker and Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. spoke during the ceremony. Hoskin said Harry and Dorcas were among the 1,500 to 2,000 'human beings' Cherokee people brought along the Trail of Tears as property. He added there was a promise in 1866 by Cherokee leaders that slaves and their descendants should have all the rights of native Cherokees. 'We should also talk about that every chance we get to talk about our history,' he said. 'It's the journey we continue to be on that's far more important because telling the truth as leaders of this nation or great organizations like the Trail of Tears Association, and the fine men and women of the Oklahoma chapter in particular who commemorate the survivors of the Trail of Tears, that sort of action helps us along this journey.' Baker said the day was 'especially significant' because the graves of two former slaves were marked for the first time. 'The Trail of Tears Association helps to mark the Trial of Tears from the east to Oklahoma. Once they (survivors) got to Indian Territory they went to supply depots that were immediately across the (Arkansas) line, so there were no road segments to mark in Oklahoma,' Baker said. 'So, the Oklahoma chapter decided back in the late 90s, for us, we would like to mark the graves of the people who actually came on the Trail of Tears, so that we could recognize them and let their families know about what they endured.' McGhee added it means a lot to him people will see and understand better who his grandparents were and they mean something to the Cherokee Nation. 'Them being recognized by the tribe means a lot because they were like left behind (in tribal history). It feels good that everyone is here to give them their honor that was due,' he said.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
Two local women to travel historic 'Trail of Tears' journey
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Two women from Grove and Vinita are part of a 12-cyclist group to ride in Cherokee Nation's Remember the Removal Bike Ride this June. By bicycle, the cyclists retrace the famed and historic 950-mile northern route of the Trail of Tears. Baylee Gregg, 21, Grove, Lexi Melton, 24, Vinita, and the other 10 riders will travel through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma for nearly three weeks. One rider, Kalina Campos, 25, is from Concord, California. 'Each year we are honored to remember our ancestors' sacrifices on the Trail of Tears through the Remember the Removal Bike Ride. The 12 cyclists will complete a nearly 950-mile journey. Along the way, they will stop at historically significant sites that our ancestors marched through at the end of a bayonet. The physical and mental fortitude of the riders will be tested, but I have full confidence that the riders are ready for the challenge at hand.' Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. Other local riders include: Adriauna Garcia, 19, Tahlequah Aaron 'AP' Anderson, 17, Bentonville, Arkansas Baleigh James-Levy, 22, Fort Gibson Jenny Kliest, 24, Stilwell Jeremy Hamilton, 47, Tulsa Kacey Fishinghawk, 22, Tahlequah Kiyah Holmes, 25, Tahlequah Mackenzie Teehee, 23, Stilwell 'I'm excited to see the landscape from my bike in a few weeks and connect to the same land my ancestors lived on,' said Aaron Anderson, of Bentonville. A team from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina will join the Cherokee Nation cyclists. They will start the ride in New Echota, Georgia, the former capital of the Cherokee Nation. The cyclists will complete an estimated 60 miles daily along the routes used by their Cherokee ancestors, who made the same enduring trek by foot over 180 years ago. During the bike ride, cyclists will visit several Cherokee gravesites and historic landmarks. Among the sites is Blythe Ferry in Tennessee, on the westernmost edge of the old Cherokee Nation, and Mantle Rock in Kentucky, where Cherokees spent several weeks during the harsh winter of 1838 to 1839 waiting for the Ohio River to thaw and become passable. Participants were selected based on an essay, in-person interviews, and a physical to ensure they were up for the grueling challenge. As part of their training, the group spent weekends undergoing rigorous physical training and cycling on various routes throughout the Cherokee Nation Reservation. The cyclists participated in Cherokee language lessons during their weekend trainings and had their family trees mapped out by a professional genealogist. This provided them insight into their ancestral past and connected any family links they might share with one another. Of the estimated 16,000 Cherokees who were forced to make the journey to Indian Territory in 1838 and 1839, before the state of Oklahoma was imposed, about 4,000 died due to starvation, disease, and exposure to the elements. 'Not only is the ride a solemn tribute to all of those we lost, it's a reminder of our future,' said Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner. 'These 12 riders have proved their strength and commitment to each other since their training began last year. We will continue to pray for their strength while they undertake the ride.' Highlights and daily outings of the journey, Remember the Removal Bike Ride, will be captured online. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fort Mitchell tour for Muscogee Homecoming
Fort Mitchell, Ala. () — A delegation from the Muscogee Nation toured Fort Mitchell today as part of the Muscogee Homecoming events. Fort Mitchell is the site where thousands of their ancestors were forced from their land in the 1830's. Muscogee families were held here before their forced removal to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears, a journey that claimed nearly one-third of their lives. Today's tour was one of several events welcoming the Muscogee Nation back to their homelands. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Historic cannonball discovery in Pickens County sparks bomb squad response
The Brief A cannonball was discovered in Pickens County, prompting authorities to call a bomb squad for safe disposal. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Bomb Disposal Unit was involved in disarming and disposing of the device found on Swan Bridge Road. The Talking Rock area has historical significance, having seen action during the Civil War and the Trail of Tears. TALKING ROCK, Ga. - Authorities in Pickens County were dealing with a blast from the past on Wednesday night. A bomb squad was called out after what appeared to be a cannonball was found. What we know The discovery was made in the area of Swan Bridge Road. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Bomb Disposal Unit was called into the area to properly disarm and dispose of the device. What we don't know It is unclear how long the object had been sitting there or who found it. Local perspective The Talking Rock area saw action during the Civil War and the Trail of Tears. While General William Tecumseh Sherman's army bypassed the area in his infamous "March to the Sea" in 1864, the Union's Third Kentucky Cavalry defeated the local Confederate Home Guard. Smaller skirmishes between the two forces also took place around the same time. The Source The details in this article were provided by the Pickens County Sheriff's Office. Additional details were provided by the Town of Talking Rock's website.
