Tommy Cox is a Rome, Georgia native, with north Georgia roots dating back to the early 1800's.  For more than four years, he has served as president of the Georgia Chapter of Trail of Tears Association.  He has dedicated the majority of his life to learning and preserving the Native American Heritage by being involved with various organizations and museums that specialize in Native history. He attended Southern Tech in Marietta, and holds an Associates degree in Science and Mechanical Engineering.

TRANSCRIPT:

Georgia Trail of Tears president, Tommy Cox, discusses why it is so important to maintain the integrity of the trails history by honoring the memory of all who died.

“Once I found out about the trail…well I thought that maybe this is a link to find out something about my ancestors.  A lot of people join our organization with that in mind…that’s basically how I became interested and joined the Trail of Tears.   I found out that after getting involved with the Trail of Tears, that it’s a different type of organization, we have a specific mission, specific goals to commemorate and preserve our heritage…and that really thrilled me so that’s the biggest reason why I’m in this organization.

Cox says the Trail of Tears Association is not specifically for the Cherokee, but for all the five civilized tribes  that went through the Trail of Tears.

A lot of people have the concept, as I did, when I first heard of the organization that it was limited to people, who only had some type of blood or some type of federally recognized tribe affiliation.  Come to find out, no it’s open to the public.

At present, we represent, all the southeastern tribes, the so called five civilized tribes,  Choctaws, Simoles, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Cherokees.  They have representation on our board and in our organization for their plights and their removal.

Even though the Georgia Trail of Tears Chapter has only been established since 1999, Cox says they have accomplished a great deal in this period of time.  He says,

“Our mission as an organization, as a State chapter, is to document any historical information specifically, as in our case, are the collection sites and the roads that led the Cherokees out of the state of Georgia.”

Thousands of man hours, Cox says, are put in by the Georgia chapter’s research committee in going through the archives to find documentation for the historic sites and collection sites of the Cherokee. 

We have to go to the archives; the county records, state records and national records, in order to document these locations.  Once we get enough documentation …the documentation required is set forth in guidelines by the National Park Service, so we have a certain guideline that we have to adhere to for this historical information.

Historical information must then be verified by an archeologist, or the state archeologist.  Once this is accomplished, the information along with an application is made with the National Park Service as a National Trail of Tears site.

Cox says projects for the Georgia Trail of Tears are ongoing in keeping with the mission statement to authenticate and document all the historic and removal sites. 

He says,

The trail actually started at the doorstep of each Cherokee home but we are running the trail from the collection sites, there were 13 collection sites in North Georgia and the trail actually runs from each one of those sites.  Probably, I would say half of them are still paved and the other half is unpaved. And we have located a lot of those sites that run through woods and we visited those sites at some of our meetings. 

Another big part of acknowledging the trail is working with the National Parks service to put up signage that will indicate exactly where the Trail of Tears begins.

In the late 1980’s an act was passed which included the Trail of Tears into the National Park system trails.  This allows for federal funding to be allocated for signs, roadside parks, trail rides and other types of recognition for historic sites.

Cox says this signage allows the Trail of Tears organizations to better educate the public by telling the story as it should be told about the removal of the Cherokee and the remaining four civilized tribes of the southeast.

Along with federal funding the Trail of Tears Association receives support from the Cherokee Nation and the four southeastern tribes.

Another aspect to the organizations educational efforts is establishing interpretive sites.  Cox says,

“This is one of the aspects of recognizing a historic location. the first removal site in Georgia… will be a campsite that is located in Cedartown, Georgia.  The government and the various parts of the government in Cedartown are so excited that they are planning to add to our signage that we have put up there recognizing this as a removal site and interpretive center.”

Back in 1805 the Federal government formed a treaty with the Cherokee Nation to build a road through their territory.  This would enhance the government’s ability to locate more frontiers people around the edge of Indian territory and move wagons from the coast up to the Tennessee-Kentucky area bringing goods to the people living in the area.

The Cherokee used this treaty as an opportunity to supply revenue for the nation.  Taverns were built every 15-20 miles to provide food and lodging for the travelers.

Now over 200 years later, the Department of Transportation has commemorated the old federal road with signage, a map, and a driving CD that is available to point out all the historic sites. 

Cox says the commemoration of such sites serves as a constant reminder for all Americans not to forget the heritage of the Native peoples.

I think it is important for us as Americans and as a nation to have accurate documentation of history because it allows us to look forward in the future and not do some of the atrocities that have been done in the past by people.  And a good example…if you look at how Hitler handled the Jewish situation and the Nazi and their treatment of the Jews in Germany, it is very similar to how these poor people were treated.

 If this were available and taught to more people across the country so they could recognize, hey there were atrocities committed in the name of greed for land because basically all of the hurt that all of these Native Americans went through…and I will mention this, between 1800-1850 there are one-hundred-thousand Indians forcibly removed from their homes east of the Mississippi to reside in Indian territory. Forcibly! That means at gunpoint.  How would we feel today if someone walked in with a gun to remove us?  We need to know that because that could happen….It’s great knowledge that America needs to know about the heritage of their country.

According to Native documentary filmmaker Steven Heape, “It is a distressing fact that Adolph Hitler studied President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 when planning the isolation and decimation of European Jews.

As the Georgia Trail of Tears chapter continues its mission of educating the public about the Trail of Tears and the American Natives who lived here...Cox says, he would like to see the citizens of Georgia recognize and protect what is left of the Cherokee Nation’s legacy in Georgia.