More than 100 years ago, the Cherokee people were
driven from their home mountains when the white men
discovered gold in the mountains of North Carolina
and Georgia. Their journey is remembered as the
Trail of Tears. Some of the people came across
Marengo County in West Alabama. It seems that
after they had left the mountains, they came this
far south so not have to climb more mountains.
It was early summer and very hot, and most of
the time the people had to walk. Tempers were short
and many times the soldiers were more like
animal drivers than guides for the people. The men
were so frustrated with the treatment of their
women and children, and the soldiers were so harsh
and frustrated that bad things often happened. When
two men get angry they fight and once in a while men
were killed on the trip. Many people died of much
hardship. Much of the time the trip was hard and
sad and the women wept for losing their homes and
their dignity.
So one night after they had made camp along the Trail
The Great One said, "Yes, I have seen the sorrows The Great One said that the green leaves will have
They knew the women would have to be very strong if
they were to help the children survive.
of Tears, the old men sitting around the dying ampfire
called up to the Great One in Galunati (heaven) to
help the people in their trouble. They told Him that
the people were suffering and feared that the little
ones would not survive to rebuild the Cherokee Nation.
of the women and I can help them to keep their
strength to help the children. Tell the women in the
morning to look back where their tears have fallen
to the ground. I will cause to grow quickly a plant.
They will see a little green plant at first with a
stem growing up. It will grow up and up and fall back
down to touch the ground where another stem will begin
to grow. I’ll make the plant grow so fast at first
that by afternoon they’ll see a white rose, a
beautiful blossom with five petals. In the center
of the rose, I will put a pile of gold to remind them
of the gold which the white man wanted when his greed
drove the Cherokee from their ancestral home."
seven leaflets, one for each of the seven clans of the
Cherokee. The plant will begin to spread out all over,
a very strong plant, a plant which will grow in large,
strong clumps and it will take back some of the land
they had lost. It will have stickers on every stem
to protect it from anything that tries to move it away.
The next morning the old men told the women to look
back for the sign from the Great One. The women saw
the plant beginning as a tiny shoot and growing up and
up until it spread out over the land. They watched as
a blossom formed, so beautiful they forgot to weep and
they felt beautiful and strong. By the afternoon they
saw many white blossoms as far as they could see. The
women began to think about their strength given them
to bring up their children as the new Cherokee Nation.
They knew the plant marked the path of the brutal
Trail of Tears. The Cherokee women saw that the
Cherokee Rose was strong enough to take back much of
the land of their people.
