Don Wildman

What about those who had stayed behind?

I just want to close the chapter on that decision.

There were 4 to 6,000 Choctaws who had remained there facing incredible hardship.

It must have been incredibly awkward as they shifted into a whole different kind of assimilated life, right?

Is there a significant Choctaw population in that same area now or not?

Do they have their own land now?

Was that ever negotiated?

The casualties for those later removals of Cherokee, Muskogee, Seminole, Chickasaw tribes, it's estimated that 60,000 people crossed these trails of tears, of which 10,000 to 15,000 died from starvation, disease, and attacks.

60,000, 15,000 dying.

These removals are echoed by others that are even in the 20th century.

This is a constant movement that's happening of this population.

How is the Trail of Tears now remembered and commemorated by the Choctaw people?

It's an incredible story of survival, really, not just of people and lives, but also of a culture when you consider the odds against this society.

Amazing story and shared with other groups that had to do the same sort of relocation.

Where did the concept of the Memorial Walk, the Memorial Trail of Tears come from?

I want to ask you a question, one I struggle with, and I imagine a lot of listeners share this confusion.

The United States, we talk about it a lot, as a nation, roots itself in the ideals of fairness and justice.

Yet, when you look at this history of removal, the Trail of Tears, how do you, as a member of this nation, make any sense of the contradiction between that national self-image and the historical reality?

Where do you guys come down with this and process this?

Interesting.