Review of "Only The Names Remain: The Cherokees and the Trail of Tears," by Alex W. Bealer

Review of

Only The Names Remain: The Cherokees and the Trail of Tears, by Alex W. Bealer

Five out of five stars

 In the horrible history of the Europeans cheating and destroying the culture of the Native Americans, there is no episode more atrocious than the forced migration of the Cherokees from their native lands in the Appalachian area to lands in the west. No tribe had a higher level of learning and other characteristics of what Europeans consider civilized traits. The Cherokee were organized to the point where they had a functioning government, had their own alphabet and published their own newspaper.

 Yet, when the greed of the white man for land and gold became strong enough, the American laws and treaties on the books that were designed to protect Cherokee rights were ignored. When the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee, that ruling was ignored by the executive branch. The result was the forced migration under adverse conditions where many of the Cherokee died along the way.

 This is a very important fact of American history and is one that should be part of the education of all American children. This book is written at the level of the middle school student and explains this sordid episode in very clear terms. There are still battles between Native American rights and corporate interests being fought on the ground and in the courts. As has always been the case, it is a matter of economic power creating political power. The historical account in this book explains how ruthless the whites have been to the Native Americans and why there needs to be checks against the might of economic power.