This excerpt is from a speech by Major Ridge to his fellow Cherokees in support of the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. Major Ridge and his son John were Cherokee leaders who negotiated
the Treaty of New Echota with the U. S. Government to leave traditional Cherokee lands in
the Southeast without the support of most Cherokee people.
I am one of the native sons of these wild woods. I have hunted the deer and turkey here,
more than fifty years. I have fought your battles, have defended your truth and honesty, and
fair trading. The Georgians have shown a grasping spirit lately; they have extended their
laws, to which we are unaccustomed, which harass our braves and make the children suffer
and cry. I know the Indians have an older title than theirs. We obtained the land from the
living God above. They got their title from the British. Yet they are strong and we are weak.
We are few, they are many. We cannot remain here in safety and comfort. I know we love
the graves of our fathers. We can never forget these homes, but an unbending, iron
necessity tells us we must leave them. I would willingly die to preserve them, but any
forcible effort to keep them will cost us our lands, our lives and the lives of our children.
There is but one path of safety, one road to future existence as a Nation. That path is open
before you. Make a treaty of cession. Give up these lands and go over beyond the great
Father of Waters.