PTPI Blog

We would like to introduce the group of staff readers for our Global Book Club’s second book, Trail of Tears by John Ehle.  Get to know them here, through their self-written bios, and stay tuned for the first book discussion later this week.

Sarah Houston, Managing Director of Student Programs

I am a University of Kansas graduate (Journalism major) and Lawrence, Kansas native.  After college, I followed my dream of living in Colorado and moved to Colorado Springs and then Denver.  Missing my family and friends, spurred me to move back to Kansas five years later.

I joined PTPI’s team in March of 2006.  In my role, I am lucky enough to work with inspiring students all over the world through our Student Chapter program, EXPERIENCE student travel programs, Global Youth Forum, and our Young Generation (University) programs.

I love traveling for vacation, training for and running marathons, cheering on my alma mater basketball team, the Kansas Jayhawks, volunteering, and spending time with friends, family and my two furry family members, my dogs, Zoey & Tyson.

I hope you enjoy Trail of Tears. Reading this book, made me realize how much I didn’t know about Native Americans and their history.  Growing up in a town that had an Indian college, Haskell Indian Nations University, I became somewhat familiar with Native American culture and people, however my impressions were fairly limited to experiencing the “Pow-wow’s” the college would perform and the famous Haskell athletes, Jim Thorpe and Billy Mills (who, coincidentally, I met before my first marathon in Duluth, Minnesota).  This powerful story of the Cherokee Nation made a strong impression on me, leaving me with a better understanding of this interesting yet devastating part of history, but also wanting to know even more.

Paige Leitnaker, Director, School & Classroom Program

After studying at Kansas State University, I began working at PTPI in 2005. I have been lucky enough to take on the roles of Adult Programs Coordinator, Director of Operation Iraqi Children (OIC) and now Director of the School and Classroom Program.

When I was in late elementary school, I went on an Indian Studies Tour with my Great Uncle, who was a professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College. I traveled with students from his college through Oklahoma. I even saw a play about the Trail of Tears in Tahlequah, OK. This was the first time I had heard about the relocation of the American Indians, and I am glad to be reading this book to expand on my knowledge.

After reading this book, I see how much more my life has been affected by the Cherokee Indians, in ways I never realized. For example, my Great Great Great Grandfather, Alpha Omega Ebright, was a Methodist circuit rider who preached to the Cherokee. In addition, my family also owns farm land, which we won in the last U.S. land rush, called the Cherokee Strip Land Run. In 1893, men lined up for a chance to run for land – land which had previously been given to the Cherokee to cross in order to get to their hunting grounds in Colorado. My grandmother still has the signed proclamation stating our land rights, signed by U.S. President William McKinley, hanging on her wall.

Kelly Meyer, Director, Operation International Children

While attending the University of Kansas in 2004, I took time off to work at the Operation Iraqi Children warehouse.  In 2006 I returned to school to finish my BA in Communication and a minor in Sociology. I came back to PTPI in 2008 as the Project Director for Operation International Children (OIC).  OIC has become a real passion of mine throughout the years.

Traveling to other parts of the world is another passion of mine because of the unknown; food, traditions, history, and other elements of a culture.  Having been from Hawaii to St. Lucia to Western Europe to Iraq, I have found that all people are passionate about their culture and their family.  No matter how much or how little someone might have, I have found that everyone considers themselves’ rich when they have family and friends in their lives.

With my wife being half Iranian, I hope one day to travel to Iran.  This may seem dangerous to some, but after speaking with many Persian people I feel it must be just like any other country in the world.  I have heard many stories of the rich culture and the beautiful sites that everyone should experience at least once in their life.

Our staff readers have prepared this list of discussion questions for those reading Trail of Tears.  Use these if you are starting your own book club, or just keep the questions in mind as you are reading the book.  Next week, we will be introducing our staff readers.  They will begin posting their own thoughts on these questions…and we hope you will join the conversation!

1.  In Trail of Tears, the Cherokee Nation worked  hard to assimilate into the European cultural norms of the  new Americans.  In present day America, many Indian Americans have chosen to assimilate into the modern cultural norms that have grown from the melting pot that is the United States.  Many, however, choose to live on reservations, living life according to the values of their people and their history.

Are there indigenous groups or immigrant groups that have never fully assimilated into your culture?  Is it necessary that they do?

2.  In the Cherokee communities, marriages began and ended simply, a Cherokee woman had more rights and power than European women and marriages were allowed across racial barriers. Today these are becoming cultural norms around the world. Were the Cherokee ahead of their time or has our society today regressed?

3.  In the book, the acquisition of land and territory is a central theme.  The Moravians explained it best in the book when they said, “Land, the prime need of the white man.  It always starts with land…” Why do you think land is the source of such great conflict and intense emotion?

4.  “An initiation ceremony, welcoming Ridge to manhood, was held.”  The Cherokee people had very specific steps that had to be taken in order to be considered a man. Does this initiation into manhood, or rite of passage, still happen today in your country?

5.  On page 220, author John Ehle quotes then U.S. President-Elect, Andrew Jackson, saying “Build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough, they’ll move.” What is your reaction to this quote and U.S. President Andrew Jackson’s involvement with the relocation of many American Indian tribes?

6.  At one point in the book, Major Ridge has a moment of introspection, asking himself, “Have I come to this…from the place I began, from where my mother and father left me, from the going to water and the first stickball game, the hunts preceded by polite prayer, the killing of whites, the killing of Indians, even Cherokees, the thefts of slaves, the horse stealing? Have you, Major Ridge, grown into this different person, and are you growing, changing still? I scarcely know you.” Do you think the sacrifices and struggles that Ridge and the Cherokees endured were worth the “progress” made to advance the Cherokee society?

7.  With little time for the Cherokee to plan and prepare, they were removed from their homelands to Oklahoma.  It is estimated that approximately 17,000 Cherokee were forced to make this mass migration.  Did the government take into account all of the arrangements that would need to be made to move this many people safely and smoothly? If you were given a short amount of time to leave your home and move to an unknown place, how would you feel? What would you take with you?

8.  What other marches/relocations come to mind in history? Why have we not learned from our past?