Cherokee, Six Degrees, Connections
Six degrees of separation is the term referring to the idea that we are all connected in some way within six degrees of separation to everyone else on earth. Keep that idea in mind as I tell you my tale.
So my husband and I recently were traveling through Oklahoma, a place neither of us has ever been before. We're in a hurry to get to our destination, but itching to do a little exploring. I found an interesting tourist spot on the Atlas called "The Five Civilized Tribes Museum" in Muskogee. Well, we just had to stop.
Perched on top of a hill in an aged bricked building, we found the museum to be a delight. Although, the stories represented inside regarding the five tribes broke our hearts. We found the five tribes were Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole. The building is the historic Union Indian Agency and the first to be built by the United States Government to house the Superintendence of the Five Civilized Tribes.
Of course, we were drawn to the Cherokee display since we are so familiar to their history since we are both from Cleveland, TN near the Red Clay Campground where they were housed before The Trail of Tears. We looked at pictures of the proud, educated, industrious people and suddenly found ourselves reading diary entries and letters from a missionary family. This family wrote of day to day interactions with the Cherokee families and their heartbreak of how the United States government were treating them. I was close to tears by the time I got the end of the last entry. The letters were dated and signed by their name and then read 'Red Clay Campground, outside Cleveland, Tennessee'.
If only we all could learn the lesson that we are connected to everyone in some way, the world would be so much better.
So my husband and I recently were traveling through Oklahoma, a place neither of us has ever been before. We're in a hurry to get to our destination, but itching to do a little exploring. I found an interesting tourist spot on the Atlas called "The Five Civilized Tribes Museum" in Muskogee. Well, we just had to stop.
Perched on top of a hill in an aged bricked building, we found the museum to be a delight. Although, the stories represented inside regarding the five tribes broke our hearts. We found the five tribes were Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole. The building is the historic Union Indian Agency and the first to be built by the United States Government to house the Superintendence of the Five Civilized Tribes.
Of course, we were drawn to the Cherokee display since we are so familiar to their history since we are both from Cleveland, TN near the Red Clay Campground where they were housed before The Trail of Tears. We looked at pictures of the proud, educated, industrious people and suddenly found ourselves reading diary entries and letters from a missionary family. This family wrote of day to day interactions with the Cherokee families and their heartbreak of how the United States government were treating them. I was close to tears by the time I got the end of the last entry. The letters were dated and signed by their name and then read 'Red Clay Campground, outside Cleveland, Tennessee'.
If only we all could learn the lesson that we are connected to everyone in some way, the world would be so much better.