Life in the spring of 1838 was not pleasant for Atsadi and his family living in North Carolina with his small Cherokee tribe. It was a time of hardship and sadness,for his family as well as the rest of his Cherokee tribe were being forced to emigrate from their home in North Carolina to Indian reserves in Oklahoma on order of President Andrew Jackson. It started with president Andrew Jackson signing the Indian Removal Act In 1830 which gave the Federal Government power to exchange land the Natives own in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land west of the Mississippi. There was a law created saying that the government had to negotiate the removal treaties fairly and peacefully, meaning it did not allow the President or anyone else …show more content…
Atsadi thought that it was the spirits testing him and that they took his mother because he did not stay behind and fight. Being on his own Atsadi had to work harder than ever to keep going every day and to not run away and go back to his home. It had seemed that his mother was what kept him going and kept him on the right track. Atsadi however knew that his mother would want him to keep going and to make it to the reserves and to have the best life that he could. She would want him to live and be happy. Throughout the weeks it got harder and harder for Atsadi to keep going, people were dying in great numbers each day and Atsadi feared that he would soon be one of them if the group did not make it to their destination shortly. Being alone frightened Atsadi greatly. He had never been on his own for a long period of time and he had to learn quickly to survive since no help was given from others or the soldiers. It was embedded in Atsadi’s mind to keep going and to think