Land Grabs and Native American Removal
Tall Oak points out that all of Rhode Island was once Indigenous land. All across the United States Indigenous peoples have experienced separation from their historic homelands.
Why has this happened? How have Indigenous people across the country responded?
In 1830, the federal government passed the Indian Removal Act. This provided eastern tribes with large tracts of land in the west. Tribes were paid (or coerced) to travel to these new lands—with the agreement that eastern indigenous land would be turned over to the government. But many groups refused to go. By 1840 most of the Cherokees living in Georgia had not moved west. President Van Buren sent 7,000 troops to use military violence to force them to start the journey. 5,000 Cherokees died of disease, starvation and exhaustion along the way. This was the Trail of Tears.
In 1830, the federal government passed the Indian Removal Act. This provided eastern tribes with large tracts of land in the west. Tribes were paid (or coerced) to travel to these new lands—with the agreement that eastern indigenous land would be turned over to the government. But many groups refused to go. By 1840 most of the Cherokees living in Georgia had not moved west. President Van Buren sent 7,000 troops to use military violence to force them to start the journey. 5,000 Cherokees died of disease, starvation and exhaustion along the way. This was the Trail of Tears.
Once out west, infringement and appropriation continued. But more significantly, tribal communities were limited by the conditions in which they were forced to live. Tight land boundaries changed their lifestyles; nomadic tribes were no longer able to travel to new locations each season. Agricultural development and infrastructure changes altered the physical shape of the land and the ecosystems. The social, cultural and economic fabrics of native tribes were forever changed by their relationships to white settlers and to the nation state.
In order to acknowledge the tragic histories of land grabs, removals, relocations and genocide, Native American groups and allies gather each year in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving day for an alternative event—a Day of Mourning.
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