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When Senator Elizabeth Warren officially announced his bid for the 2020 presidency this weekend, President Trump responded with a familiar attack line.
He mocked Mrs. Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, for her claims based on Native American ancestry, again calling her by the word "Pocahontas". Mr. Trump then seemed to refer to the Trail of Tears, the cruelly infamous and cruel displacement of the American Indians who caused thousands of deaths.
"Will she be our first American Indian presidential candidate, or did she decide that after 32 years it would not be as effective?" Trump tweeted "One sees oneself in the countryside TRAIL, Liz!"
The comments immediately caused a return on the social media accusing the president of shedding light on the l & # 39; One of the worst tragedies experienced by Native Americans Mr. Trump had previously invoked the Wounded Knee Massacre, one of the most deadly attacks perpetrated by the US Army against Native Americans, in another speech made public by Mrs. Warren.
"He tolerates a narrative that supports genocide and forced violence, withdrawal," said Betsy Theobald Richards, who works on the evolution of cultural narratives for The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice organization.
Mrs. Richards, a e citizen of the Cherokee Nation, said that most people had only learned the "dominant narrative" of the history of the United States, which has long devalued the experiences and voices of the Amerindian people.
Really do not realize that they are real people living among you, "she said. "It is their ancestors who are survivors or keep the memory of those who have been slaughtered or kidnapped."
For those in need of a recall, here is a brief history of the Trail of Tears:
The Trail tears?
In the 1830s, federal and state officials forced thousands of Native Americans to leave their lands in the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. The forced relocation affected thousands of Cherokees, as well as the Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole tribes, among others.
The natives were forced to leave their homes and placed in internment camps before being pushed west to a designated Indian territory. , in present-day Oklahoma, according to the association Trail of Tears, a nonprofit organization that works to preserve the historic trail and promote awareness.
Some 15,000 Aboriginal people died from exposure, malnutrition, exhaustion and illness during their trip.
"This is a terribly tragic event in Cherokee's history," said Jace Weaver, director of the Institute of Native American Studies at the University of Georgia, who studied the Cherokee withdrawal. 19659014] What led to the forced relocation?
In the early 1800s, the federal government reached an agreement with Georgia to expel all Native Americans from the state. According to Dr. Weaver, little action has been taken now to enforce it.
In 1829, gold was discovered on cherokee land in northern Georgia, which intensified efforts to dislodge cherokee, according to the Trail of Tears Association. At about the same time, Andrew Jackson became president and began adopting an "aggressive" policy of relocating indigenous people, the association said.
Jackson promulgated the Indian Withdrawal Act of 1830, which authorized the government to relocate Indian tribes unregulated land swap in the west of the country.
Most Amerindians oppose this policy and the Cherokee Nation files a lawsuit in the United States Supreme Court. In a judgment rendered in 1832, the court sided with the Cherokees, said Dr. Weaver
"They have this victory, but President Jackson refuses to enforce it," he said. declared. Thus, he said, "a group of Cherokees is of the opinion that the referral is inevitable and that they must negotiate the best possible agreement".
In 1835, a faction of Cherokees signed a treaty with the federal government, agreeing to relocate. west of Indian territory. The agreement, the New Echota Treaty, "was illegal under the laws of the Cherokee Nation," said Dr. Weaver, but it came into force anyway.
"The Senate ratified the treaty while it was known that a minority of Cherokees knew about it and accepted it," said the Trail of Tears Association on his website.
When traveling in the West, the association said that a harsh winter and that illnesses were killing "a daily occurrence".
What is the Legacy
In 1987, Congress designated the Trail of Tears a National Historic Trail. He covers nine states and thousands of kilometers.
Because of what is taught at school, many people have limited knowledge of events such as the tears path and the injured knee, Ms. Richards said. "They have heard these terms, but they really do not understand," she said.
But the people of tribal nations, Ms. Richards said, know the story very well: "These are genocides we remember, which are part of"
She pleaded for more Native American voices in Hollywood , in the media and in the education system
"It is time for the United States to intensify and integrate aboriginal people. Aboriginal history and culture in the curriculum, "she said. "Ignorance is no longer acceptable."
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