Author Jerry Ellis was the first person in modern history to walk the 900 mile route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. This inspiring book chronicles his two month journey, which changed his life and influenced the masses. Now in print for fifteen years, the book is a Native American classic.
The Cherokee author walks in reverse the 900 mile route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears to honor his ancestors and tell the world about their tragedy: In 1838, 7,000 US soldiers imprisoned 16,000 Indians in the Southeast and marched them to Indian Territory, present day Oklahoma, in the heart of winter. Many of the Cherokee were barefooted and 4,000 died along the Trail. They were buried in shallow unmarked graves. The author slept in fields, woods and kind strangers' homes to record their own thoughts and feelings about modern America and what happened to the Cherokee. The trek, one that proved deeply spiritual for the author, was life-altering. The book is interwoven with nuggets of crucial Cherokee history and myths. When the book was first published by Delacorte Press in 1991, the publisher nominated it for a Pulitzer Prize. The book has been in print ever since and the author has lectured about the book and the Trail of Tears in Europe, Asia, Africa and throughout the USA. In 2011, the book went on display in the National Teachers Hall of Fame.
Excerpt
We're all such fragile threads, but what a wondrous tapestry we make.
Professional Reviews
Walking the Trail, One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears
Incredibly inspirational. It was as if I walked the Cherokee Trail of Tears myself. This book touched my soul! Can't wait to read it again. I gained incredible respect for the writer and the journey he took. It renewed my belief in human kindness. So many wonderful people along the way and brushes with nature. One word sums it up.........Amazing!!
A Walk to Remember!
To share what I enjoyed the most about the author's journey, I would need to quote most of the book. You just need to read it. But on one of the last pages he writes "I am only a man, but what a fantastic creature. He seeks the supernatural while the extraordinary is all around him." Vicariously, I became extraordinary again, too.
Take the Journey!
Jerry Ellis' Walking the Trail is a journey well-worth taking, and it is one you will want to take again and again. You walk in the author's shoes as he guides you along the arduous journey of the relocation of his Cherokee ancestors in 1838. It is a history lesson about a grave governmental decision to displace a Native Indian population for the appropriation of land. It is an engagement with the people who habitate the trail's edge today. This inspirational story is one that honors ancestors, promotes commitment to a goal, and encourages spiritual enlightenment. It stays with you...You will return to this book many times after you read the very last page.
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