University of Arkansas Commemorates Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Day on the Trail of Tears

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Day on the University of Arkansas campus will focus on one of America’s greatest tragedies, the forced removal of American Indians in the 1830s over what has come to be known as the Trail of Tears.

On Monday, Oct. 12, the University of Arkansas will host a special program recognizing the Trail of Tears, which will include viewing a documentary at the Arkansas Union and a commemoration at the Trail of Tears historical marker on campus.

The 74-minute documentary Trail of Tears from the 2009 PBS series We Shall Remain will be shown at 11 a.m. in Room 503 of the Arkansas Union. This screening is free and open to the public.

The Trail of Tears was the result of a legislative declaration that no foreign government, which included American Indian tribes, could be physically located within the borders of the United States. Any tribe that failed to disband or move of its own accord to the specially designated Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma was forcibly removed by federal forces. Thousands of people died during this thousand-mile journey over the Trail of Tears, which is not a single trail but rather a collective reference to the many paths used by the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole nations when they were forced west. Several of the paths traverse northwest Arkansas and one crosses the southern edge of the university campus.

From 1 to 1:45 p.m., members of the Honors Film Association, Native American Student Association, and OMNI will read passages from journals kept by those who walked the Trail of Tears. Members of the public are encouraged to share their feelings and do readings relating to the Trail of Tears during this open forum. This observance will be held in the Connections Lounge in the Arkansas Student Union.

At 1:45 there will be a procession from the Connections Lounge to the historic marker in the park at the corner of Garland Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The park commemorates the location where a thousand Cherokees camped during their journey to Indian Territory in the winter of 1838-39.

At 2 p.m. there will be a ceremony in which officers of the Arkansas Chapter of the National Trail of Tears Association will speak about the Cherokees who actually came through northwest Arkansas and camped here. State Rep. Lindsley Smith and Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan will present a proclamation commemorating this event. The park commemorating this historic site is located near the entrance wall of the university at the intersection of Sixth Street and Garland Avenue, just south of the women’s soccer field. Further information about this historic site can be found at http://campusmaps.uark.edu/461.php

The University of Arkansas Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Observance is sponsored by the Honors Film Association; the Native American Student Association; the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology; the Honors College; the Multicultural Center; and the department of communication in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. For more information about this observance, visit the group’s Web site at http://cavern.uark.edu/~hfa.