Post by Okwes on Jan 13, 2008 18:31:28 GMT -5
TRAIL OF TEARS: CHEROKEE LEGACY
by Pete Vonder Haar
(2007-06-09)
www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082
<http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082>
2007 DEADCENTER DOCUMENTARY FEATURE! A depressing
reminder of the human cost at which whitey conquered the continental
United States, "Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy" is about just that: the
forced resettlement of some 15,000 Cherokee from their ancestral lands
in the southeastern U.S. to territory a fraction that size in Oklahoma
and Arkansas. Using interviews and dramatic reenactments, director
<http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082#> Chip
Richie presents a heavily detailed account of the events leading up to
the removal.
The travails of the Cherokee people began with the American Revolution,
as victorious colonists took revenge upon Native Americans for their
role is aiding the British during the war. Even so, George Washington
and others gave lip service to preserving Indian sovreignty, even as
they enacted policies designed to "whiten" native populations. Indians
like the Cherokee were encouraged to take on more traditonal gender
roles (meaning - for example - that men should take up farming,
previously the duty of womenfolk), and to de-emphasize hunting and
warfare. Some Cherokee excelled under these programs, including Elias
Boudinot and John Ridge, who helped draft the new constitution of the
Cherokee nation.
Things continued pleasantly for a time, but then two things happened:
gold was discovered in northern Georgia, leading to a massive influx of
white prospectors with no intention of honoring the Cherokee's rights;
and more importantly, Andrew Jackson was elected President.
Jackson enacted the Indian Removal Act of 1830, effectively telling the
Cherokee to get lost and give up their lands to the federal government.
Some native leaders, like Boudinot and Ridge, tried to come to terms
with Jackson by signing a treaty with him. While others like Chief John
Ross urged his people not to respect the treaty. In the end, it didn't
matter, as American troops marched in Cherokee lands in 1838 to round up
those Cherokee who hadn't already "removed" themselves. In August of
that year, following months of imprisonment in squalid stockades, the
march begins. When all was said and done, between 2,000 and 5,000
Cherokee died as a result of removal.
In the words of Eric "Otter" Stratton, "You f**ked up! You trusted us!"
I've seen too many of these kinds of films
<http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082#> and
read too much history to be shocked anymore at our nation's capacity for
bastardry, though I am more surprised that anyone who came to the
negotiating table with our country ever believed a word we said after
the 19th century. When all is said and done, "Trail of Tears" is
stirring in spots, but the heavy-handed leveling of guilt and some
rather shoddy reenactment work (alleged Cherokee who are practically
white and a notable lack of squalor in the stockade scenes) keep it from
being truly affecting.
by Pete Vonder Haar
(2007-06-09)
www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082
<http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082>
2007 DEADCENTER DOCUMENTARY FEATURE! A depressing
reminder of the human cost at which whitey conquered the continental
United States, "Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy" is about just that: the
forced resettlement of some 15,000 Cherokee from their ancestral lands
in the southeastern U.S. to territory a fraction that size in Oklahoma
and Arkansas. Using interviews and dramatic reenactments, director
<http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082#> Chip
Richie presents a heavily detailed account of the events leading up to
the removal.
The travails of the Cherokee people began with the American Revolution,
as victorious colonists took revenge upon Native Americans for their
role is aiding the British during the war. Even so, George Washington
and others gave lip service to preserving Indian sovreignty, even as
they enacted policies designed to "whiten" native populations. Indians
like the Cherokee were encouraged to take on more traditonal gender
roles (meaning - for example - that men should take up farming,
previously the duty of womenfolk), and to de-emphasize hunting and
warfare. Some Cherokee excelled under these programs, including Elias
Boudinot and John Ridge, who helped draft the new constitution of the
Cherokee nation.
Things continued pleasantly for a time, but then two things happened:
gold was discovered in northern Georgia, leading to a massive influx of
white prospectors with no intention of honoring the Cherokee's rights;
and more importantly, Andrew Jackson was elected President.
Jackson enacted the Indian Removal Act of 1830, effectively telling the
Cherokee to get lost and give up their lands to the federal government.
Some native leaders, like Boudinot and Ridge, tried to come to terms
with Jackson by signing a treaty with him. While others like Chief John
Ross urged his people not to respect the treaty. In the end, it didn't
matter, as American troops marched in Cherokee lands in 1838 to round up
those Cherokee who hadn't already "removed" themselves. In August of
that year, following months of imprisonment in squalid stockades, the
march begins. When all was said and done, between 2,000 and 5,000
Cherokee died as a result of removal.
In the words of Eric "Otter" Stratton, "You f**ked up! You trusted us!"
I've seen too many of these kinds of films
<http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10082#> and
read too much history to be shocked anymore at our nation's capacity for
bastardry, though I am more surprised that anyone who came to the
negotiating table with our country ever believed a word we said after
the 19th century. When all is said and done, "Trail of Tears" is
stirring in spots, but the heavy-handed leveling of guilt and some
rather shoddy reenactment work (alleged Cherokee who are practically
white and a notable lack of squalor in the stockade scenes) keep it from
being truly affecting.