BOOKSHELF
UPCOMING
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| CHEROKEE TRAIL OF TEARS |
CHEROKEE TRAIL OF TEARS. (David G. Fitzgerald and Duane H. King, Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 208 pp., hardcover - $27.95)
In 1838, federal troops and state militias rounded up more than 13,000 Cherokees and imprisoned them in stockades and prison in preparation for their removal from their native lands in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
Fifteen hundred died in confinement before the rest embarked on a forced exodus along what became known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation of the Cherokees lasted two years and resulted in more than 5,000 deaths.
Today, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail commemorates the removal of the Cherokees and the paths that 17 detachments followed westward. Today, the trail encompasses about 2,200 miles of land and water routes and traverses portions of nine states. This photo-essay tells the story of this tragic event, while paying tribute to the detachments that were pushed westward.
Award-winning photographer David Fitzgerald traveled the trail for more than three years, photographing and documenting sites as well as artifacts along the six routes of the Trail of Tears. The insightful and informative text by Duane King, one of the country's foremost authorities on the Trail of Tears, covers six routes of the trail. Fitzgerald's photos and King's text offer accounts of one of the most tragic stories in American history. (September)
RECENT
THE CHEROKEE REMOVAL: A Brief History with Documents. (Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green, Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 200 pp., paperback - $19.95)
The Cherokee removal unfolded against a backdrop of competing ideologies, self-interest, party politics, altruism and ambition. Using documents that convey Cherokee voices, government policy and white citizens' views, Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green present an account of this complicated moment in American history. The second edition of this successful class-tested volume contains four new sources, including the Cherokee Constitution of 1827 and a modern Cherokee's perspective on the removal.
The introduction provides a succinct historical background while document headnotes contextualize the selections and draw attention to historical methodology. (2005)
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| MOUNTAIN WINDSONG |
MOUNTAIN WINDSONG. (Robert J. Conley, University of Oklahoma Press, 240 pp., paperback - $14.95)
Set against the events of the Cherokees' removal from their lands in North Carolina to Indian Territory, MOUNTAIN WINDSONG is a love story that brings to life the suffering and endurance of the Cherokee people.
It is the tale of Waguli (Whippoorwill) and Oconeechee, a young Cherokee man and woman separated by the Trail of Tears. Just as they are about to be married, Waguli is captured by federal soldiers and, along with thousands of other Cherokees, taken west to what is now eastern Oklahoma. Though many die along the way, Waguli survives, drowning his shame and sorrow in alcohol. Oconeechee, among the few Cherokees who remain behind hidden in the mountains, embarks on a courageous search for Waguli. Robert J. Conley makes use of song, legend and historical documents to weave the rich texture of the story, which is told through several voices. The traditional narrative of the Trail of Tears is told to a young contemporary Cherokee boy by his grandfather, presented in bits and pieces as they go about their everyday chores in rural North Carolina.
Conley, a citizen of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, lives in Tahlequah, Okla., with his wife Evelyn, where he writes full time. (1995)
- Travis Snell