The Trail of Tears is the name given to the forced relocation of Native American nations following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The removal included many members of tribes who did not wish to assimilate. Many Native Americans suffered from disease and exposure, and somewhere between 2,000-6,000 Cherokee died on the trail. The Trail of Tears Diary includes interviews that reveals the extraordinary resilience of the Native American nations during the trail.
Pair “Excerpt from Trail of Tears Diary” with “Why there’s no place like home for the holidays” and ask students to discuss how the authors of each text explain home. How do the author's feelings in “Excerpt from Trail of Tears Diary” about their old land and new land compare? How do students think the Muskogee Tribe thought of home based on the song words, “We are going to our homes and land; there is One who is above and ever watches over us; He will care for us”? How does this compare with the ideas of home in “Why there’s no place like home for the holidays”?