Feathers mean a lot to Native American Tribes. A feather isn’t just something that falls out of a bird, it means much more. The feather symbolizes trust, honor, strength, wisdom, power, freedom and many more things. To be given one of these is to be hand picked out of the rest of the men in the tribe – it’s like getting a gift from a high official.
Many of the Eastern Indian Nations leave feathers along the Tail of Tears to remember those who never saw the end of the journey. They are also tied to the trees to remember those who have gone before them.
About the Trail of Tears: The Trail of Tears was a series of forced relocations of Native American nations in the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The removal included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, from their ancestral homelands in the southeastern U.S. to an area west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Indian Territory. The phrase “Trail of Tears” originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.
Map of United States Indian Removal, 1830-1835. Oklahoma is depicted in light yellow-green.
