The Ohio Country, Episode 8: Moving
In 1830, U.S. President Andrew Jackson pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress, which led to the forced relocation of tens of thousands of people in the southern and northern United States, including the Shawnee, Seneca-Cayuga, Ottawa, Wyandotte and Miami communities from what is now Ohio.
Additional resources
Indigenous displacement and survival is a much larger topic than this podcast, and we encourage you to dive into additional resources beyond this episode.
Created by the Wyandotte Nation and students of Dr. Rebecca Wingo at the University of Cincinnati, this map and timeline tool details the history of Wyandotte forced removal and survival.
“The Other Trail of Tears,” by Ohio historian Dr. Mary Stockwell, describes the relocation process in Ohio, which became a chaotic and deadly experience for Shawnee, Miami, Wyandotte and others.
“Tributaries” by Laura Da’, a citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and poet, recounts the suffering of her ancestors as they were driven hundreds of miles west and across the Mississippi River into Indian Territory, now Kansas. This collection of poems is a vivid account from a family perspective, indelibly told by a young Shawnee named “Lazarus Shale.”
“It gives me pleasure to inform Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, consistently pursued for nearly thirty years, with respect to the removal of Indians from white settlements is nearing a happy conclusion.”
Andrew Jackson
Watch the video below to learn how the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma educate their youngest citizens about their tribe’s forced relocation to Oklahoma at their Ohio River Valley Splash Pad.
