I hope you are enjoying the mountains–its language, its animals, its sounds, its season.  This chapter is about one of its pages of history.  A very sad page.

TO KNOW THE PAST

“If ye don’t know the past, then ye will not have a future.  If ye don’t know where your people have been, then ye won’t know where your people are going.”

“And so they called it the Trail of Tears.  Not because the Cherokee cried; for he did not  They called it the Trail of Tears for it sounds romantic and speaks of the sorrow of those who stood by the Trail.  A death march is not romantic.”

p. 43:  sweet root –   This link seems like it might be sweet root.

http://montana.plant-life.org/species/osmo_depau.htm

p. 43:  poke salat – Here is some info.  http://www.watersheds.org/nature/poke.htm and another site that talks about poke salat.  http://jimmyth.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Cook-Poke-Salad

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p. 43:  hickory marriage stick – I couldn’t find a reference to this practice in any Cherokee website, however, it is common folklore.  Black slaves used to jump over a broom stick.

p. 44:  John Hunt Morgan – from Wikipedia.

Here is the link to read more.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_H._Morgan.jpg

p. 44:  minnie ball – from Wikipedia.  If you have a Civil War buff in you family, get he/she to tell you about the minnie ball.  If not, go to Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini%C3%A9_ball

That’s all for this chapter,

–rebecca