Economics and Geography Lessons

The Trail on Which They Wept

MCPS Status of Book as of 4/4/96:
Approved as a Reading/Language Arts Core Book for Grade 5

Title: The Trail on Which They Wept, The Story of a Cherokee Girl by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler with pictures by S. S. Burrus (Silver Burdett Press, Morristown, NJ, 1992)

Lesson Developed by Patricia King Robeson

Literature Annotation: This is the story of Sarah Tsaluh Rogers, a young Cherokee girl, her family, and the "Trail of Tears." The story begins in 1837 and describes the Cherokees' lifestyle in Georgia and the 115 long, difficult days of their journey from Georgia to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

Grade Level: 5

Duration: 3 class periods; this lesson can be used to enhance a Native American unit

Economic Concepts: Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, Production

Geography Themes: Location, Relationships: Human and Environments, Movement

MSPAP Outcomes and Indicators:

Economic Outcome: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the historical development and current status of economic principles, institutions, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers in American society.

Indicators:

• Describes the relationship between available resources and the production of goods and services.
• Analyze the effects of economic growth on the standard of living of individuals.

Geography Outcome: Students will develop an understanding of geographic concepts and processes as needed to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities.

Indicators:

• Locate places and natural features by interpreting and constructing maps using directions, legends, grid systems, boundary lines and scale.
• Predict the effects of living in a given geographic setting on people's lives.
• Examine how people of the state and nation are linked by transportation and communication networks.
• Examine different ways of defining a region.

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Identify the route traveled by the Cherokee on the "Trail of Tears."
• Describe how the Cherokee used natural resources to meet their needs and wants.
• Explain how the physical setting of the land hindered the Cherokee on their journey.
• Compare and contrast Cherokee life today in two different regions.

Vocabulary: unaka, stockade

Materials:

• Book: The Trail on Which They Wept
• U.S. map
• Outline map of the United States
• Student atlases
• "Trail of Tears" worksheet 1
• "Trail of Tears" worksheet 2
• "Two Nations, One People - The Cherokee" worksheet
• "Two Nations, One People - The Cherokee" answersheet
• "Cherokees of the Southeast Today" worksheet
• "Trail of Tears" map
• On-line Resources
  • Cherokee History
  • The Trail of Tears
  • The Cherokee Nation

Teacher Background: Knowledge of the "Trail of Tears"

Lesson Development:

Review/Motivation:
Setting for the story:

1. Ask the students the following questions:
   • When Columbus came to North America, who did he find living here? How did he and his men interact with the people hey encountered?
   • When the early settlers came to America, who did they find living here? How did they interact with the people they encountered?

2. Explain to the students that Native Americans were living in all regions of North America long before the explorers and settlers came; they were relocated because of wars and treaties with the white settlers.

3. Tell students that the story you are about to read to them describes Native Americans who lived in the southeast region of our country and the hardships they encountered as they were forced to leave this region and travel to Indian Territory which is now Oklahoma. Historians call their journey the "Trail of Tears."

4. Have a student locate Georgia on a large U.S. map and another student locate Oklahoma. Tell the students that over 150 years ago the Cherokee of North and South Carolina and Georgia were forced out of their homes and escorted by soldiers to Oklahoma. This story is about their journey.

5. Read the book to the students.

Activities:
Story Discussion:

1. Describe the physical setting of the Rogers' plantation and how the Rogers used the natural resources on the plantation. (It was autumn when the story began and the house looked over a valley. The corn had been picked and taken to the mill, corn plants had been gathered into sheaves and left to dry, and the cotton had been picked and sold.)

2. Compare Sarah's lifestyle to her grandmother's. (Grandmother wanted to keep the Cherokee traditions alive. She lived in a log lodge, cooked outside over an open fire and cooked and ate resources from the land. Sarah's home was on a plantation, and she lived with her family according to some of the white or unaka ways.)

3. Ask who John Ross was and why the people refused to listen to the soldiers until he returned from his visit with President Van Buren. (John Ross was the chief of the Cherokee nation, and he had been to Washington, DC, to try to persuade President Van Buren to allow them to remain on their land.)

4. Explain the opportunity cost of John Ross's decision about President Van Buren's offer. (John Ross's opportunity cost was what he would have done with the five million dollars which he would have received for the Cherokees if they would all have volunteered to move west. By not volunteering, the soldiers forced them off their land and they lost the opportunity to have the resources, goods and services the money could have been used to purchase.)

5. Explain why Sarah's mother cried when she told Sarah to leave her best dress behind. (Sarah's mother knew their lifestyle would change drastically, and that Sarah would need clothing that would last a long time and could be worn on the long trip.)

6. Ask why Sarah's father packed a box of newspapers. (The newspapers were Cherokee newspapers and printed in their alphabet. He wanted his children to learn to read their native language and keep their heritage even though they were being forced to leave their homeland.)

7. Discuss what happened to the Cherokees who tried to remain in the region. (Soldiers destroyed their houses and land or farms; some were forced by family members to go to Oklahoma with them; others hid in the mountains.)

8. Ask how the Cherokee traveled on the "Trail of Tears"? (The Cherokee walked; rode horseback; and went in wagons pulled by horses or oxen, and on ferryboats.)

9. Describe how the Cherokees' journey was affected by the different regions they traveled through. (It was hot in the beginning and they drank water from the streams when they came upon them. Many people slept on the ground, and they gathered wood to build campfires for cooking meals. After two months it began to rain and the roads were very muddy. Wagons got stuck and some people threw away their belongings to make the load lighter for the horses and oxen. Many people became ill and died. As they moved north, the weather became very cold and ice formed on the water barrels in the morning. Food became sparse, and they relied on the resources around them for food. While they were waiting to cross the Mississippi River, snow fell. It snowed heavily along the northern trail and they had to cross many rivers.)

10. Discuss how the Cherokee modified the land in Oklahoma to meet their needs? (The Cherokee hunted for animals until they could clear the land and plant crops. They dug ditches to irrigate their land. They used stones to build foundations for their homes.)

Mapping Activity:

1. Divide students into groups of four and give each group an atlas, copies of the Trail of Tears worksheet 1 and the Trail of Tears worksheet 2 and the "Trail of Tears" map. Discuss the worksheets to be sure they understand what they are to do. Direct them to study the map and information from the story and atlases to complete the "Trail of Tears" worksheets.

2. When students have completed their group work, discuss their answers by having students take turns tracing the routes on a large classroom map and identifying physical features of the land over which they traveled, how they used natural resources, and how long each journey took.

Conclusion/Closure:
Teacher Note: If possible, acquire a copy of the May, 1995 issue of National Geographic magazine and show pictures from the article, "Two Nations, One People - The Cherokee" to the students.

1. Have students remain in their groups of four. Give each group the "Two Nations, One People - The Cherokee" worksheet. Remind the students that the Cherokee were torn apart more than 150 years ago. Many were forced to travel the "Trail of Tears" and others stayed in the southeast and hid in the mountains. Today many Cherokee live in Oklahoma and some in South Carolina.

2. Give each group of students one 12" x 18" sheet of construction paper. On the chalkboard write the following title and three headings. Tell the students to write these titles across the 18" side of their construction paper.

   The Cherokee
   Living in Oklahoma Today	Living in Georgia Long Ago	Living in South Carolina Today

3. Direct the groups to read the facts listed "Two Nations, One People - The Cherokee" worksheet and decide where each fact should be placed. (For example: If the fact relates to Cherokee living in Oklahoma today, they should paste it under that title. If the fact relates to all the Cherokee living in Georgia before the "Trail of Tears", it should be pasted under the title, "Living in Georgia Long Ago." If the fact relates to the Cherokee living in South Carolina today, it should be pasted under that title.)

4. When students have completed their charts, use them to discuss how the standards of living are similar and different because of the region and how the Cherokees' standard of living has changed from the time before the "Trail of Tears."

Thoughtful Application:
Explain to the students that the article on the Cherokee in National Geographic magazine shows pictures of them posing in war bonnets and costumes which are not part of the traditional dress. The article also explains that souvenir shops in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, are filled with items which were not part of their culture and that the parking lots have tepees on them, not traditional in the southeast.

Place students in their groups of four; give each group a copy of the "Cherokees of the Southeast Today" worksheet, instruct them to think about what they know about Native Americans and what they learned from the story to answer these questions:

• Why would the Cherokees pose for pictures in clothing that is not part of their tradition? (The Cherokee lived in poverty for many years and tourism is how many of them earn a living today. They give the tourists what they want to see.)
• Which region of the United states would you visit to see tepees? (Plains Indians lived in tepees.)
• Why did the Native Americans in the plains live in tepees.? (The Plains Indians lived in tepees because of the lack of trees to build houses and because they needed portable shelters so they could move to follow the buffalo.)
• Do you think many visitors to Tennessee are fooled by the fact that the Cherokees are only building tepees and dressing in war bonnets to interest them? Why or why not? (The Cherokee depict the customs and traditions of the Plains Indians because many people think Native Americans lived in tepees and wore war bonnets. Many know little about the Native American ways of life in different regions of our country. The Cherokee are willing to do this because this is how they can earn a living.)
• Why was the establishment of the Smoky Mountain National Park "a golden opportunity" for the Cherokee living on reservations near the mountains? (Many Cherokee fled to the mountains in order to escape from the soldiers in 1838. They continued to live in hiding for many years. The establishment of the park provided an opportunity for them to earn a living.)

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Last updated on April 3, 1997
Maintained by John L. Day

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