http://www.cherokee.org/

I wanted to do a blog post on the Sioux or one of the other plain indians the ones we see in films with clint eastwood or dancing with wolves or whatever it is called. The I saw the film "3:10 to Yuma" With Apache in that, so I thought about them. But then I saw http://www.cherokee.org/. The Cherokee today I quite well off and have their own government inside Oklahoma. They seem to be well established and well off... But what really struck me was the front page. I love cycling, and so when I saw this: "Remember the Removal
If you are a Cherokee Nation citizen, enrolled in high school or college, in good academic standings, and willing to commit to a 950 mile journey, applications are being accepted for the 2012 Remember the Removal Bike Ride."

It is amazing to think in our lives, in their lives, nothing like that happens in a western country, but a little over 150 years ago in a democratic nation people were force march 950 mile ( a longer journey than the flight from where I live in France to London then down to here... yet... Before the Lecture on wednesday I hadn't even though about it. The trail of tears and all that was a passing comment in my knowledge of American history... Not much has changed in the political situation of the United States since then yet the knock on doors promoting Democracy... Sounds as democratic as the Argentinians call for the liberation of the Falklands... Quite shocking and upseting. The website offers much more than this but i thought the "Remember the removal" was the most shocking!