Nunna daul Tsuny (The Trail Where They Cried)

Last night our neighbor, Dave, came over for a visit and brought a gift of two arrow heads that he found recently here in the cove where we all live. He pointed out the differing colors of the arrowheads and explained that the darker flint is made from a local stone, and the lighter tan colored flint is from farther north, so it was probably traded for.

Dave says that the Trail of Tears came through this area on a path just behind our property, as in, you can see it from the back of our house! I knew that the Trail came through Dayton, but did not know its specific route. I am so motivated to find out more of this... And a little humbled. I confess that I have harbored a little bit of attitude against the invisible "powers that be" of Dayton who have not done much to acknowledge or remember the forced relocation of the Cherokee through our area. Couldn't they have put up some sort of display or memorial plaque or something, somewhere in town? Now I feel a little pang of guilt over my judgement of whoever they are that didn't made a big enough deal of this, and a genuine desire to know more about this history that literally walked through our back yard...

Honestly, Native American history was not that interesting to me until last spring, when Ben and I read a history of Minnesota. I don't recall the title.. something about a tour of Minnesota historical sites or something? The author spent a lot of time on the history of relations between the pioneer settlers and the Native peoples. Learning those specific stories really piqued my interest in the vast (in some ways merely unknown, in some ways unknowable) history of the Native American peoples. This furthers one of the lessons I learn over and over again in life-- that if I just take the time to get to know a person (or in this case, about people groups), I will truly care for them.

Maybe we should put together a little local history to accompany our artifacts... And seek out others' stories-- the Lord will teach us much about Himself if listen to the story of His works and love those whom He loves.

Check back for Cherokee history...