WHY THE TRAIL OF TEARS? PEACEMAKERS FOR SACRED HEALING PRAYER JOURNEY

"Why can't we go back home?" Joy with statue in Pulaski, Tennessee

WFWP partnered with the Peacemakers for Sacred Healing in a Trail of Tears Prayer Journey taken early this June. WFWP members drove along one of the routes Native Americans call the Trail of Tears, beginning in New Echota, Georgia and finishing in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to honor and liberate the Native Americans who lost their lives on the trail. This was in repentance for the atrocities committed by the American government and people against America's First People, specifically after the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that resulted in Native populations being forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands to "Indian Country," now known as Oklahoma.

WFWP members around the country supported this reconciliation initiative with prayers and donations in the spirit of fulfilling their mission as women and mothers to bring reconciliation and healing in the family, community, nation, and world. All of us who traveled the Trail of Tears felt those prayers and remain eternally grateful for the thoughts, prayers, and money that was given so generously by WFWP members. Truly that support allowed us to go forward and complete this prayer journey.

Many months of preparation went into this endeavor. For me one of the most significant was when I told WFWP President Mrs. Angelika Selle about the Prayer Journey and asked if WFWP could sponsor it. She enthusiastically agreed, citing the 2013 focus of, "Spirituality, Healing, and Service." She spoke about the mother's heart to heal the wounds of the past, the historical trauma that invades and destroys individuals' joy in life and ability to create a loving home to raise children and empower communities to live for the sake of others.

"We're ready to begin the journey!"

All throughout our journey, from Virginia and other starting points, to Georgia, through Tennessee, Arkansas, and finally into Oklahoma, it was powerful for all of us to know that WFWP women and supporting gentlemen were praying for us to reach the hearts of those we met, and to empower them and give them hope. We were giving them the message that people in America are waking up and learning what was done in the past, are humiliated by what our ancestors have done, and are determined to find ways to repair the damage, and never allow such atrocities to recur.

Mrs. Brenda Miller, Peacemaker from Maryland contacted Chambers of Commerce in the cities along the way, and found people who were more than willing to set up meetings, to speak to us about how their cities had experienced the removal of America's First People through their communities. There are many routes that the people took, but after Ms. Miller's tireless research, we chose to follow mainly the Bell Route.

People of Native descent welcomed us and shared with us their stories. She contacted those who have been working to research and preserve the stories of the Trail of Tears, like Mr. Graydon Swisher, who took us along the way. He even arranged for us to have an event and ceremony of reconciliation in the Chickasaw Heritage Park near Memphis,TN, where Mrs. Friedrun Abrahams, WFWP Tennessee Chairwoman, came and participated with us, videotaped the ceremony, and supported us while we were there. Ms. Miller made sure that everything was prepared for every stop along the way. Her heart and efforts made the trip seamless.

She set up meetings in Pulaski, TN, where Ms. Joyce Woodard, Director of Tourism arranged for Ms. Vicki Garland, Cherokee, to speak to us of her work to put signage up along the trail. In Bolivar, TN, we met Ms. Monita Corlin, Director of Tourism, who arranged a live radio broadcast for us and we were hurried off to the station as soon as we arrived after travelling for many miles to reach Bolivar. Rev. Claire Daugherty spoke powerfully of our desire to retrace the Trail of Tears and repent for what had happened, to remember and tell the story for those who can no longer speak.

Mr. Graydon Swisher and Ms. Brenda Miller

After that, Ms. Corlin spoke to us of the fact that there was nothing written by anyone about the time over 600 people were marched through the city. There was not a trace. Only receipts tell any story at all.

Rev. Dr. Linda Lucero-Nishikawa, Pojaque Pueblo and our spiritual guide, had spoken strongly to us of the protocol when listening to Native Elders and being with a people whose very faith and culture had been ripped out of them by people who thought they knew better and imposed their way of life on them. Because it was the Creator who helped Native people survive for thousands of years in America, how could they leave behind the gifts that had been so lovingly given to they by God? Because of her tutelage, we learned how to be humble and to receive even harsh messages from people who have been so hurt and betrayed and Dr. Nishikawa also worked before the journey and then into the night with Chief George Akeen, Chief of the Cheyenne in Oklahoma, to officiate at the "Wiping of the Tears Ceremony" on Saturday, June 15 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where the Cherokee were sent and established a new homeland.

One of the most remarkable things that was accomplished as we traveled the Trail of Tears was that we were gathering up the victims of the Trail, those who had lost their lives as they journeyed to the West. We gathered them and brought them with us and sang them an Honor Song. When someone "walks on" to the next world, the family sings an Honor Song for them to guide them on their way. Those who had died on the trail, had never been honored and so were lost and wondered even why they had been born at all. So Dr. Nishikawa taught us how to comfort them and bring them with us to come to the Wiping of the Tears Ceremony so they could be liberated and sent to a good place in the spirit world.

Many of us who call ourselves Americans are either of Native descent or have an ancestor who is. We must revive all that is good in the culture of America's Original People and not lose it. America cannot exist without embracing the people that the Creator, God, our Heavenly Parent, nurtured and raised to care for Mother Earth with sacred ceremonies.

Ms. Joelle Cornier, Dr. Nishikawa, Chief George Akeen, and Mrs. Brenda Miller in Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Rev. Claire Daugherty gave us many books and reference materials and told us of the difficulties that America's First People have suffered at the hands of those who came here from Europe. She gave us a foundation upon which to see the reality that we were standing upon as we traveled the Trail of Tears. She was the one who inspired us to take this trip. It was she who was moved by her relationship of heart with the Creator to help the Native people find value and honor in the hearts of all of us. She inspired all of us to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. For it is in doing that we can really help those people find release and we can all walk together as family members of God's great family of humanity.

Minister Reiko Jenkins activated the vast membership of ACLC to host the Peacemakers for Sacred Healing at their churches and hold events like the opening event in New Echota, Georgia, where WFWP Georgia Chairwoman Mrs. Nandi Moton worked together with ACLC Executive Director Rev. Tom Cutts. They brought together an amazing group of people who totally validated what we were setting out to do. Min. Reiko-san also brought together a very special group of lady ministers for the final event in Oklahoma. Rev. Marilyn Kotulek worked very hard to prepare the ground for the Wiping of the Tears Ceremony in Tahlequah, and took excellent care of the many ACLC dignitaries who came to Oklahoma for the final weekend of Ceremony and the Father's Day Pow Wow on that Sunday.

Dr. Sandra Lowen joined us for the whole journey, adding her vast experience and understanding of her own Cherokee ancestry. Her aunt, who died on the Trial of Tears at the age of 5, was finally liberated of her fear and the freezing cold that had robbed her of any life at all. Dr. Lowen shared many stories with us and let us feel what had really happened to people. This helped us experience the Trail of Tears as a reality, not just a story.

Claire Daugherty at Rev. William Allen's church in Tennessee

Joy and Joseph Williams, daughter and son of Bruce and Rhonda Williams, drove with us from Virginia in Joy's car. It was wonderful to have younger people with us with a completely different way of seeing and experiencing. They have Cherokee ancestry and learned a lot about that ancestry through joining this prayer journey.

For them it was particularly painful as they got into a car accident. Although the only people-damage were bumps and bruises and a few cuts, Joy's car was totaled and we had to rent two additional cars to hold both the people and the things that they had agreed to keep in their car during the journey.

Ms. Joelle Cornier, daughter of Dr. Nishikawa, was another young person who joined our pilgrimage. As we journeyed, we began to notice that we were picking up ticks, so we scanned each other daily. One morning in Benton, Arkansas, after we had walked on the Trail on the Military Road, Dr. Lowen found at least 6 ticks on Joelle. Three were embedded under the skin so we had to take Joelle to the hospital to have them removed. The doctor worked as her mother stood by, wishing that the ticks had chosen to bite her instead of her precious 14-year-old daughter. Joelle was brave and strong and didn't complain through it all.

Blood, sweat, and many tears were shed along the Trail of Tears, but it was nothing compared with what happened 175 years ago.

Min. Reiko Jenkins, Dr. Linda Nishikawa and Rev. Claire Daugherty

Our friend and WFWP Maryland member, Mrs. Dottie Chicquelo, who is also Eastern Band of Cherokee, also wanted but couldn't come with us on the Trail. However, she would be in Nashville for her mother's birthday, so she organized a side trip for us to go to Bon Aqua, Tennessee, to the Longhouse of Venus Brightstar and stay with them. That evening we had the distinct honor of being invited to participate in a Sacred Pipe Ceremony in the woods at night. It was powerful, educational, and gave us all a taste of the beautiful religious culture of America's Original People.

To experience it firsthand, to be invited to participate as brothers and sisters of One Creator, God, was a unique experience, and one that is in line with WFWP's principles and mission, to create a culture of One Family Under God, all brothers and sisters, all honored and respected as family members.

It was also in Bon Aqua that we first met with Mrs. Cynthia Myers and her lovely daughter, Katie, who are from Massachusetts, and were traveling the Trail of Tears with us, but taking the Northern Route. They joined us at the Longhouse and participated in the Sacred Pipe Ceremony in the woods. When the ceremony was over, the sky opened up and rain poured down on us in torrents. It was as though the heavens opened up to cleanse us of our iniquities and we were healed, each in our own way. It was refreshing to be in God's nature and just experience without concepts.

Dr. Sandra Lowen, Dr. Linda Nishikawa, Mr. Joseph Williams

Again in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Mrs. Myers and Katie added their very special presence and gifts, joining us for the Ceremony and the Pow Wow with Chief George Akeen and his wife Eleanor.

We may have traveled separately, but our hearts were one, as we all were looking for redemption, repenting for the wrongs done to a people who love and honor God. Dr. Nishikawa told us something unbelievable: Did you know that the Native Americans have been continually persecuted and even put to death for performing their religious practices? And even with the Native American Religious Freedom Act of 1978, those religious rites and ceremonies were not allowed, were not legal? It was only when the amendments to that act were passed in 1993 that America's Original People were no longer put to death for practicing their religion. America, the land of the free, where "all people" have religious freedom. It's ironic and tragic that those who lived here and welcomed others to this land were stripped of rights that are supposedly guaranteed to all people by the Constitution of the United States.

Mrs. Chicquelo signs the Declaration

One of the things that I did as a core member of Peacemakers for Sacred Healing as well as WFWP Virginia Chairwoman at that time, was to connect with Elders of America's First People here in the Virginia, Maryland, and DC area, and ask them to bless our journey. Chief Steven R. Adkins, Chief of the Chickahominy in Charles City County, VA, opened our journey in prayer and gave a powerful blessing to us before we left on the journey. He prayed in this language and in English, and we each experienced the power of the Holy Spirit fused with Native Spirituality. Dr. Nishikawa added her prayer and we felt that the intention for our offering of repentance and prayer was being heard by God and that the journey had begun in a sacred way.

Members of our small group met with other prominent Native Americans in the area including Mr. Jay Winter Nightwolf and Ms. Verona Iriarte, co-hosts of the Nightwolf Show on WPFW 89.3 FM, and long-time advocates for Native American issues around the United States, and with Mr. Marcellus Williams and Ms. Dottie Chicquelo. As active members of the Cherokee Nation, they gave their support and blessing to our endeavor. I could also feel their presence with us as we traveled along the Trail.

Through the Trail of Tears Prayer Journey, we all hoped and continue to hope and pray that the American People will wake up and say, "Enough is enough!" America's Original People belong on this land. Let's learn to live together and learn to honor and take care of this sacred Mother Earth as the Creator has instructed them to show us. We are indeed one family under one God!

AHO! AHO! AHO

Chief George Akeen Honors the Peacemakers for Sacred Healing At the Cheyenne Pow Wow