The Legacy of The Pilgrims

Why are the Pilgrims remembered at Thanksgiving?

Every year on the fourth Thursday of November, America observes Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving commemorates a day when the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) for their first harvest in Plymouth Colony.

It can seem odd that the Pilgrims are remembered above all other early colonists in America.

The Pilgrims were not the first European colony to have a harvest inside the borders of the United States of America.

The first attempt at a colony in the US was the San Miguel de Gualdape colony in Georgia.  It was created in 1526 AD and only lasted four months, so it probably did not have a harvest. 

However, Saint Augustine, Florida was founded in 1565 AD and is still thriving.  It had a harvest fifty-six years before the one in Plymouth Colony.

The Pilgrims were not even the first English colony to have a harvest inside the borders of the United States of America.

The two failed attempts at establishing an English Colony in 1585 AD and 1587 AD on Roanoke Island in North Carolina appear to have had a harvest.  It is certain that the James Town colony in Virginia had a harvest after it was founded in 1607 AD, some thirteen years before the Pilgrims arrived.

Plymouth Colony was not the most successful English colony in the US.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony, found seven year later in 1628 AD by the Puritans, eventually merged with Plymouth Colony in 1692 AD.  Plymouth Colony ceased to exist, the Pilgrims faded into history, while Massachusetts Bay Colony went on to become one of the original thirteen states of the United States.

So, it is obvious that the Pilgrims are not remembered for being first to reap a harvest in the US or for being the most successful in creating a colony in the US.

The reason that the Pilgrims are remembered with a national holiday is the legacy that they left behind.

Their legacy began before they ever set foot on the New World.

The Mayflower was blown off course by a storm causing the Pilgrims to land hundreds of miles north of their original destination.  They were too low on supplies to continue to their original destination, so they had no choice but start their colony where they had landed in the area of Cape Cod.

However, the land patent and charter that they had received did not apply to the area of Cape Cod.  So, they had no governing document for their colony.

In order to prevent anarchy and chaos from prevailing, which would have surely destroyed their colony with in a few months, they formed the Mayflower Compact.  The Mayflower Compact provided for self-governance of the colony as a democratic republic through voting among all free men.   It was signed by all forty-one free men on November 21, 1620 AD.

(The 28 women, and the 33 men that had not been granted free man status, were not allowed to vote or sign the Mayflower Compact.)

The Mayflower Compact allowed the creation of an executive branch in the form of the Plymouth Colony governor, and a legislative/judicial branch in the form of the General Court.  The Governor and the General Court were elected by all the free men.

The Governor had a cabinet of seven Assistants that were appointed by the General Court.  The Governor and Assistants then appointed a Constable to rule over each town.  They also appointed Messengers to carry out the rest of the duties of the executive branch like publishing announcements, conducting land surveys, and law enforcement.

The General Court created laws based on the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) and English Common Law by majority vote within the General Court.  These laws included the death penalty for the following crimes: murder, treason, witchcraft, arson, rape, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, and striking or cursing one's own parents.

Cruel and unusual punishment was prohibited, so the death penalty was carried out by hanging or firing squad.  Lesser crimes could be punished by flogging or shaming.  Shaming began with either the guilty being placed in the stocks or their clothing being marked to identify their crime.  After this, they would face public shame and humiliation for the duration of their sentence.

Jails only existed a places to hold the accused until their trial, or until their punishment was given, if they were found guilty.  There were no long term prisons.

In 1636 AD, The General Court created the first legal code in North America.  This legal code included a bill of rights that protected basic rights of all colonists, including the right to a trial before a jury of their peers.

In that same year, the General Court also created a disabled veterans fund to take care of veterans, who had became disabled during the time of their service. 

In 1641 AD, the General Court created a Body of Liberties to protect the rights of people, who were unable to perform public services.

The General Court also had the power to raise taxes as well as authorize and keep a registry of all real estate transactions.  The General Court divided all land in the colony into six mile by six mile townships to ensure that even the most rural areas had a local governing authority.

The General Court was also the top appeals court of the Colony.  There were local courts in each township, but the accused had the right to appeal to the General Court, if found guilty of a criminal charge, or if they lost a civil suit.  A jury of twelve freemen were selected to decide manners in the local court with a judge overseeing the trial.

The General Court could also call a Grand Enquist, composed of freemen, to see if there was enough sworn testimony to warrant a trial for very serious charges, similar to a Grand Jury.

So the contractual form of government between the governed and the governing became the basis for all modern democratic republics.  The ideas first instituted by the Pilgrims were soon copied in nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony and then the other English Colonies in North America.

The Mayflower Compact is the basis of the constitution of the United States and each state.  The Pilgrims also established the system of checks and balances provided by a three branch form of government.  They also established the hierarchy of government jurisdiction that went from the most rural township to the government over the entire political state.

So, the first legacy of the Pilgrims was the basic form of the government and laws of the United States.

The Pilgrims did not just create townships, but also the structure of those townships.  Each township was the community of a single congregation that met together in the same church building each week.  Each congregation was self-governing as well.

When a community began, there was absolutely no concept of the separation of church and state as people today might think.

The church building was the center of the township, often literally.  The same building was also the public school building during the week.  It was also the town hall where people met to discuss community affairs.  It also served the site of social functions like dances.  Lastly, it was also the place where all other community business was conducted such as voting.

Not only that, but the pastor of the congregation was usually also the school master during the week.  He also frequently appointed as the Constable of the township in rural communities.

For all intents and purposes, the most influence member of these communities was the local pastor.  School curriculum and government policy were largely shaped by his sermons.  He was consulted for advice on such matters.  Rarely were these things formulated without his approval.

Even when a community grew larger and started having separate buildings for different functions, the teachers, government officials, and all other members of the same community still attended the same congregation together.

When a community got too large to meet as a single congregation, then a second congregation would typically be started in the most populated portion of the township and another church building built.  People typically were members of the nearest congregation in these cases.  In effect, the township now contained two communities, not just one.

Eventually, as a township became urbanized it might have many churches inside of it, but families still typically would be members of the nearest congregation.  Each of these congregations would be their own community.

Eventually, these urbanized townships would join together to form a single city.  However, inside that city, there would still be a number of communities.  Each of these community still centered around a congregation that met together each week in the same place of worship.

This congregationalist model was copied by other colonies as the main means to create new communities.  This pattern for creating communities established by the Pilgrims was used by pioneers as the United States continued to expand.

(For example, The Mountain View Church in Washington County, Arkansas, had also been the school.  Our pews had fold up desks on the back of them.  It was also the polling place and was where all governance of the Mountain View township had been conducted.)

So, the second legacy of the Pilgrims was the congregationalist model that became the standard for forming communities across the United States.

The Pilgrims were not just satisfied with creating Christian congregations for the European colonists, but were very active in efforts to bring Native Americans into the House of Truth.  They sought to show the goodness of the Father of Truth to them, with the belief that the Native Americans would come to repentance once they understood His goodness.

The Pilgrims soon got their chance to bring the Good News to a Native American in a rather unexpected way.

They had spent the winter in the Mayflower, since they had arrived too late to build adequate shelter ashore.  Not long after they began building their first settlement on the site of an abandoned Native American village, a Native American named Samoset boldly walked into their settlement and greeted them with, "Welcome, Englishmen!".  He then asked if he could have some beer.

Samoset had learned English from English fishermen.  He had traveled with them from his native land in modern Maine to Cape Cod.  He had come to meet with Massasoit, the Sachem of the Wampanoags.  When he learned about the Mayflower, he decided to meet the Pilgrims once they came onshore.

Samoset explained to the Pilgrims that the abandoned village had been named Patuxet.  He told them of how a great plague had killed everyone in Patuxet.  He then told them about Squanto (Tisquantum), the only survivor of the Patuxet.

Samoset spent the night with the Pilgrims and promised to return with Squanto as well as Massasoit,

Squanto and Massasoit were hesitant to meet the Pilgrims at first.  After all, their previous encounters with Englishmen had not gone well.  Still, Samoset was able to convince Squanto and Massasoit to meet with the Pilgrims.

When they arrived, Squanto spoke the Pilgrims in very good English.  He explained to them about how he had came to speak such good English and be so familiar with English customs.

Captain John Smith had to return to England with one of the fishing ships.  He left instructions for Captain Thomas Hunt to head to Spain to sell the dried fish, when the ship was full.  However, Captain Hunt decided to enslave some of the Native Americans and sell them as well.

So, Captain Hunt invited twenty of Patuxet villagers to his ship to discuss trade in 1614 AD.  Then kidnapped them.  Captain Hunt tried to sell them as slaves in Spain, but some Monks figured out what he had done and forced him to give the Native Americans to them for free.

The Monks then educated the Native Americans in Christianity (as they understood it) and helped them go to England, with the hope that they could find voyage back to their native land.  In England, Squanto learned English and eventually found voyage as a guide for Captain Robert Gorges.

When they arrived in area of Cape Cod, Massasoit avenged the earlier treachery of Captain Hunt by massacring the party sent by Captain Gorges.  He then brought Squanto back into his village in 1619 AD.

However, Squanto and Massasoit found the Pilgrims to be quite different from the other Englishmen that they had met. So, Wampanoags and Pilgrims soon formed a mutually beneficial treaty in 1621 AD.

Not long after that, Samoset boarded a north bound English fishing ship and returned to his native land in modern Maine.  He may came into the House of Truth later.

Squanto remained with the Pilgrims and taught them how to survive in the New World, while they taught him more about the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).  He also acted as their translator to Wampanoags as well as their guide and advisor.  This helped the Pilgrims tell the Wampanoags the Good News in their own language.

Among those that heard the Good News translated by Squanto was Hobbamock.  He came to live among the Pilgrims not long after Squanto.

Squanto died about a year later in late November from disease, but expressed with his last words the expectation to go to meet the Father of Truth in Heaven.

Hobbamock continued to live with the Pilgrims until he died in 1642 AD.  During that time, he helped the Pilgrims tell the Good News to the Wampanoags in their own language.

Massasoit was still somewhat mistrustful of the Pilgrims until March of 1623 AD, when he became violently ill.

Edward Williams, who had became friends with Massasoit, and had learned to speak some of the language of the Wampanoags, came to Massasoit at once upon hearing of his illness.  Massasoit was blind from the illness.  He was so close to death, that both he and his people had given up all hope of recovery.  (Many of the Wampanoags and people from related tribes had died from this disease.)

When his friend Edward Williams arrived, Massasoit cried out that he would never again see him again.  However, this leader of Plymouth Colony prayed for wisdom and then comforted Massasoit.  He told Massasoit that he would see him again.

Williams then gave Massasoit a little bit of medicine, and scraped out some stuff from the inside of his mouth.  Within 30 minutes, Massasoit could see again.  Then Williams gave him chicken soup and nursed him back to health.

Massasoit was convinced that the Pilgrims were really his friends and loved him.  He allowed the Pilgrims to teach the children of Wampanoags English and other things that the Pilgrim children learned in their schools.  He soon came into the House of Truth.

Massasoit eventually had his sons Wamsutta and Metacomet given the names of Alexander and Philip, which came from the Book of Truth (The Bible).  He named his first daughter, "Amie", which means "friend" to signify his friendship with the Pilgrims.  He named his second daughter "Sarah", after the wife of Abraham (Abram) in the Book of Truth.

This program of the Pilgrims bringing medical help, education, and helping the Wampanoags come into the House of Truth continued until shortly after the death of Massasoit in 1661 AD.

All during this time, the Pilgrims did not try to force the Wampanoags to change their culture.  The Pilgrims had not came to preach English culture to the Native Americans, but the Good News about the Man of Truth.

The Wampanoags made their own changes to their culture. They changed what they learned was displeasing to the Father of Truth to what was pleasing to Him.  They adopted whatever from the Pilgrims that they found useful.  They retained everything else from their old culture that they found fitting and useful.

They came to live in the House of Truth as Wampanoags, not English people.

The Wampanoags were well prepared by the Pilgrims to come into the House of Truth in greater numbers by the time that Thomas Hooker arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 AD.  He began making efforts to reach the Wampanoags as well, but was hindered by the language barrier.  However, he lead an effort to build upon the pattern that the Pilgrims had established in reaching the Native Americans.

He was soon joined by his former student John Eliot at the end of 1631 AD.

Eliot soon began expanding the efforts of Hooker to reach the Native Americans with even greater zeal, but also found the language barrier hard to overcome.  He longed to preach to the Native Americans in their own language and produce a translation of the Book of Truth in their own language for them to read for themselves.  Little did he know, that things were already being put in place for him to realize both of these dreams.
 
That same year Richard Callicott came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as well.

Callicott began taking in orphaned Native American boys and raising them in his household, where he taught them about the Man of Truth.

Among those was John Sassamon (Wussausmon), who seems to have have already came into the House of Truth through the efforts of the Pilgrims.  Sassamon retained his Native American language as he learned English.

Soon Sassamon was teaching John Eliot his native language, while Eliot help Sassamon improve his English.  Eliot also taught Sassamon a much deeper understanding about the Man of Truth.

Soon, Sassamon was translating for Eliot when Eliot preached to the Wampanoags and related tribes.

By 1636 AD, Harvard College (today Harvard University) in Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded for the expressed purpose of raising up missionaries to teach the Good News to the Native Americans, and to provide them with an English education.

In 1637 AD, Cockenoe came into the house of Callicott after being orphaned at age seven during the Pequot War.  He became very proficient in both English and several related Native American languages.

Soon, he was helping Eliot translate the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, a few other verses, and some tracts that Eliot could read to the Native Americans.

In 1646 AD, Eliot made his first attempt to preach a sermon in the Wampanoag language himself.  Two of the listeners who came into the House of Truth under the preaching of Eliot was Job Nesuton and James Printer.

Soon, he began to establish praying towns for Wampanoags, Massachusetts, and other Native Americans that came into the House of Truth through his efforts.

He did this to protect them from the growing number of colonists that would not accept these Native Americans as equals.  He hoped that these Native Americans would be accepted as equals, if enough differences were removed.  He also recognized that Native Americans who had individual deeds to property, would have legal protection from losing that property to greedy colonists.

In most of these towns, these Native American Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) were eventually forced to adopt more and more of the Puritan customs by the Puritan authorities.  However, the Wampanoag on Martha's Vineyard continued to make their own changes to their culture as they saw fit.  Eliot was able to follow the pattern set by the Pilgrims there.

For the most part, this plan worked.  In time, the Native American children were sitting next to the Colonist children in the same schools. They both began to adapt to each other to begin forging a new identity as Americans.

Soon, with the help of Cockenoe, Sassamon, and Nesuton, John Eliot was able to create the Eliot Bible in the Massachusetts language.  James Printer did the actual printing using the first printing press in the United States at the Harvard Indian College.

By 1655 AD, they had printed the Gospel of Matthew, Genesis, and the Psalms in the Algonquin language.  By 1661 AD, they had printed the entire Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).

By 1663 AD, they printed the entire Book of Truth.  One thousand copies were made and distributed to Native Americans and missionaries.

The Wampanoag and other tribes were now able to carry on the work of preaching the Good News to Native Americans and teaching each other how to live in line with the Book of Truth themselves.

In 1665 AD, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, a Wampanoag from Martha's Vineyard who came into the House of Truth through the efforts of Eliot, became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard.

By the time that John Eliot died in 1690 AD, the majority of the Native Americans from the Wampanoags and related tribes in the area of Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony had come into the House of Truth.  Many of them became missionaries to other Native American tribes as well.

So, Hooker, Callicott, Eliot and their Native American brothers built upon the pattern for reaching Native Americans established by the Pilgrims.  They took in orphans and expanded education, to the point of Native Americans became equal to them in all matters.

Other missionaries continued to follow the pattern established by the Pilgrims in dealing with Native Americans in other colonies.  These included Jonathan Edwards, George Duffield, Azariah Horton, and David Brainerd.

Jonathan Edwards, leader of the First Great Awakening, was instrumental in getting Azariah Horton and David Brainerd appointed as missionaries.  Many considered their zeal for preaching the Man of Truth - but not English culture - to the Native Americans to be extreme.

They thought that it was so extreme, that David Brainerd had been expelled from Yale for his views.  (Yale had also been started for the same reasons as Harvard by this time.)

David Brainerd then went an lived among the Delaware tribe that he preached to in 1742 AD.  In many ways, he adapted to their culture.  This was a radical departure from the path prescribed by the mainstream leadership, but it was right in line with the pattern established by the Pilgrims.

He kept a journal about his experience.  After he died in 1746 AD, Jonathan Edwards published his journal.  This set off a flurry of missionary activity that has spread across the world. 

This included missionaries to the Native Americans until the formation of the government of the United States in 1787 AD.  These missionaries include John Brainerd (brother of David), Jonathan Edwards (who had not previous worked as a missionary), George Duffield, Charles Beatty, Elihu Spencer, John Martin, William Richardson, and Samuel Kirkland.

Not only were European Americans inspired by the journal of David Brainerd, but also Native Americans like Samson Occom became missionaries as well.  This had always been the goal of the Pilgrims in their efforts.

The fulfillment by David Brainerd of the pattern established by the Pilgrims in reaching Native Americans became the basis of missionary work, not just for these Colonial American missionaries, but for missionaries around the world.

Many of these missionaries to Native Americans were very influential on George Washington.

Washington had been inspired by the sermons of Jonathan Edwards during the First Great Awakening.  Azariah Horton was pastor to the his Revolutionary Army when they were quartered near Bottle Hill.  Samuel Kirkland had helped Washington get the co-operation of the Iroquois against the British in the Revolutionary War.  George Duffield had served as a chaplain under Washington in the Revolutionary War.

Henry Knox, the first Secretary of War, was likewise influenced by the missionaries that followed the pattern for treatment of Native Americans first developed by the Pilgrims. 

Together, Washington and Knox worked out a six point plan for the United States government to send people to bring Native Americans into the House of Truth based on the pattern created by the Pilgrims.  They began implementing their plan with The Five Civilized Tribes.

So, the third legacy of the Pilgrims was creating the pattern used by Americans to perform missionary work.  This pattern is still being followed today.

So, the Pilgrims left behind a legacy of that shaped many of the things that has made America great - or even possible.  It is no wonder that they are remembered each year at Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, the Pilgrims also left a fourth legacy.

The Pilgrims did not develop the skills needed to thrive as a colony on their own.  This forced them to allow the Strangers to join their colonies as well.

The Strangers were the worst kind of immigrants - Europeans!  Even though they came from the same continent as the Pilgrims, they did not have the same motivations as the Pilgrims in coming.

The Pilgrims worked hand in hand with the Native Americans to become something unique and different - Americans.  The Pilgrims left Europe to make America into some thing better than Europe.

The Pilgrims envisioned a country that would serve as a city on a hill that the entire world could look to as an example of how a society prospered when it lived by laws based on the Law of Truth.  They did not just come to escape persecution in Europe, but to escape the moral corruption in Europe that came from European thinking.

The Strangers on the other hand came to America to benefit from the efforts of the Pilgrims.  They sought to oppress the Native Americans, take their land, and in some cases, even exterminate them.  They wanted to make America into Europe.

The Strangers envision a country where they could do things in the same manner as Europeans did, but somehow still get the benefits that came from doing the things that Pilgrims did.  They did not come to escape persecution in Europe, but to spread the moral corruption to America that came from European thinking.

These Strangers did not just work in the commercial realm of Plymouth Colony, but became involved in the government, education, and even the religious realms as well.  Though they were the minority at first, they still had influence that created division.

The Strangers set the pattern followed by later European immigrants, who also came over for the wrong reasons.

These later European immigrants came here to get bigger, better, newer stuff.  They have sought to make America into Europe through a subtle influence.

Through their influence most Americans do not even really understand the meaning of liberty.  They do not know what they are celebrating on Independence Day.  Those following the pattern set by the Strangers have brought about the disintegration of Thanksgiving, so that Americans are no longer remembering the legacy of the Pilgrims!

So, Pilgrims and Strangers set a pattern of division that has defined so much of American history and American life.

It has caused there to be a political division into a two party system.

It has caused division over slavery that lead to the first American Civil War.  It caused division over the treatment of Native Americans, with one party making fair treaties with Native Americans, only to have those same treaties broken when the other party came into power.   It caused division over the treatment of African Americans, with one party working to give them the right to vote and civil rights, while the other party worked to deny African Americans these rights.  It caused division over the treatment of women, with one party seeking to give them the right to vote and equal pay for equal work, while the other party sought to deny them those things.  It caused division over the rights of unborn children, with one party seeking to give them the right to be born, while the other party sought to protect the serial killers, who viciously murdered them in the womb.  It has caused division over marriage, with one party seeking to define marriage as it is in the Book of Truth, while the other party works to make Americans live like they were married in Sodom.  It has caused a division over Israel, with one party working build up the Impossible Country as a blessing to the human race, while the other party works to tear down Israel as a curse to the human race.

One party wants to restore the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) as the American Spirit, while the other party is given over to the Spirit of Anti-Jewism and the Spirit of Anti-Christ.

Basically, there has been a continual struggle between those with an agenda to do the will of the Father of Truth and those with an agenda to do the will of the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil).  These two cannot exist in peace for long periods of time.

This division has lead to attempts to bridge the divide with compromise.  This compromise has lead so many Americans to fall for the Great Deception.  So, instead of answering the call of 911 with repentance, America experienced a loss of power since that time.

So, the fourth legacy of the Pilgrims is that they sowed the seeds that will eventually lead to the death of America.

The Pilgrims also left a legacy of taking action to resist evil, instead of living in compromise.  They recognized that they had reach a time for civil disobedience.  They showed the evidence of faith when they left behind every comfort of the Old World to face the hardships of starting over in the New World.

The Pilgrims then suffered much persecution to create a legacy that made America great.  Patriots who love America will in like manner will have to experience the refining fire that the Pilgrims experienced to make America great again.

That is the greatest legacy of the Pilgrims.

Those who follow the greatest legacy of the Pilgrims, will one day have their hunger and thirst for righteousness filled by the Father of Truth (Matthew 5:6).

Since they will suffer to follow the Man of Truth in this world, then they will reign with the Man of Truth in the world to come (2 Timothy 2:12).  They will reign as priests and kings on this Earth under the Man of Truth, to ensure that neither religion nor government can be corrupted with compromise (Revelation 5:8-10).  They will reign a thousand years on this Earth with the Man of Truth (Revelation 20:6).

After that, a Renewed Heaven and Earth, where only righteousness exists, will replace the current Heaven and Earth as they have longed for (2 Peter 3:10-13).  They will then have their hunger and thirst for righteousness filled as they reign with the Man of Truth forever (Revelation 22:3-5).

So, follow in the legacy of the Pilgrims by coming into the House of Truth.  Like the Pilgrims, you will suffer hardship for following the Man of Truth (2 Timothy 3:12).  Like the Pilgrims, that hardship is the price of admission for a new life in a new world (1 Peter 4:12-14).

However, like the Pilgrims, you will also leave a legacy to those who come after you (2 Corinthians 12:14).

You begin to create that legacy when you surrender control of your life to the Man of Truth, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!

The Five Civilized Tribes

Why are The Five Civilized Tribes called that?

The Five Civilized Tribes are the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek (Muskogee), Seminole, and Cherokee tribes.  How did these tribes come to be called the Five Civilized Tribes? 

This is best answered by answering some other questions about the Five Civilized tribes

What was the history of the Choctaw and Chickasaw before the American Revolution?

The Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes are closely related. According to their oral history, their ancestors lived in the northwest United States, until a famine brought on by a long drought forced them to migrate in search of a land with a suitable food supply.  So two brothers, Chahta and Chikasa, led a large group of Native Americans in a southeast direction for a long time.  Their journey was slowed by their efforts to bring the bones of their ancestors with them.  Finally, they came to the Mississippi River and migrated east from there until they reached Ninih Waiya (near present-day Philadelphia, Mississippi).  (The mounds appear to have already been built when they arrived.)  Their entire journey took forty-three years.

Core samples from bristle cone pines, the oldest trees in the world, show, that there was indeed a drought, which lasted well over a decade in the western United States, hundreds of years before European contact.

The group following Chahta camped on the south side of a creek in the area, while the group following Chikasa camped on the north side.  Then the creek flooded and became impassable for a while.  After the flood ended, the two groups decided to stay on their respective sides of the creek.  Those on the south side, who followed Chahta became the Choctaw tribe, and expanded southwards.  Those on the north side, who followed Chikasa, became the Chickasaw tribe and expanded northward.

Their DNA and languages support this claim of coming from the same family.  

They were well established in Mississippi and parts of neighboring states, when Europeans first encountered them.  They were already living in towns at that time.

What was the history of the Creek (Muskogee) before the American Revolution?

The Creek oral history tells of how they migrated from west Mexico into the lowlands of Georgia and parts of surrounding states, where they settled and created an empire led by their first emperor, somewhere around 800 AD.

There is evidence of this, like the discover of statues, similar to those produced by the Olmec of western Mexico, in the part of Georgia where the capital of this empire was located.  The mounds of this area are the same shape and structure as the funeral temple mounds of the Olmec.  Funeral shafts, similar to those under the funeral temple mounds of the Olmec, have been found under some these mounds as well.  Some of the remaining full blood Creek natives in Alabama have very similar looking faces to those on the giant head statues left by the Olmec.

Afterwards, their oral history tells that their empire developed a large trading network, which extended via sea travel to a land far to the south.

This story is supported by DNA evidence of full blood Creek.  Their DNA shows that many are related to the Chibcha tribes in Venezuela, who have a mixture of North American native DNA and South American native DNA.

The Creek could have been traveling back and forth for trade through Florida to Venezuela via the Caribbean Islands over a long period of time.  There is a record from the voyages of Columbus of canoes, that were the length of a galley (about 165 foot long (50 meters)) encountered by him in the Caribbean, which were laden with trade items.

This trade would have led to the Creek tribe intermarrying with Chibcha tribes, which would explain this mixture of two Native American DNA groups in the Creek and the Chibcha. It also explains the presence of some Carrib words in the language of the Creek, when Europeans first encountered them.

Their oral history also tells that later their empire began disintegrating due to internal fighting.  Their empire came to an end shortly before European contact.

However, they remained loosely aligned, until contact with Europeans forced them to pull together to maintain their identity and protect themselves from the Europeans.  They were already living in towns for hundred years before the day when worlds collided.

What was the history of the Seminole before the American Revolution?

The Seminole tribe did not exist until after 1700 AD.  It was composed of smaller tribes native to Florida, bands of members of the Creek tribe, and runaway slaves, who fled to Florida to escape problems caused by European settlers in Georgia and Alabama.  This mixed group eventually formed its own identity as a distinct tribe.

They worked among the Spanish as cattle ranchers and pirates.  They were already living in towns by the start of the American Revolution.

What was the history of the Cherokee before the American Revolution?

The Cherokee have a long and detailed oral history of their migration.

They came from the Great Lakes region to the mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina before European contact.  (They were not in Georgia and the lowland areas of surrounding states when Europeans first came into these areas.  They moved into these areas as the Creek were forced out after European contact.)  This is evidenced by their language being part of the Iroquois language family.

They came to the Great Lakes region from the northeastern region of the United States.  This is attested to by the oral history of other tribes from that area, which told about how the Cherokee lived among them before moving west.

Their history tells that their ancestors came across the great waters (Atlantic Ocean) in giant canoes from nine islands far to the east, when the tops of these islands burst into flames.  This matches evidence found in the Azores.

Their history states that they were driven to these nine island to escape persecution in a land to the east, which today is Portugal.

The evidence supporting their oral history is one reason that the state of Israel has The Cherokee listed as the only Native American tribe as possibly belonging to the lost tribes of Israel.

They were already living in walled towns by the time of European contact.

How were these tribes living at the time of the American Revolution?

These five tribes were already living in towns and otherwise acting in a civilized manner when the American Revolution began.  They had already adopted many European American customs that they found useful.  For this reason, these five tribes were considered to be civilized by many European Americans by the time of the American Revolution.  So, they came to be called the Five Civilized Tribes.

What effect did the American Revolution have on the Five Civilized Tribes?

In the American Revolution, the Cherokee fought on the side of the British against the Americans.  Cherokee began moving into the land that became the state of Arkansas in 1780 AD to escape being in the jurisdiction of the United States, if it should win the American Revolution.  They were the first of the Old Settler Cherokees.

(This area was under the control of the Spanish, who had continued with the status quo after obtaining New France from France in 1762 AD.  France only had trade relationships with the Native Americans in New France.)

After the United States won that war, the Cherokee fought on the side of the Spanish against the Americans.  Eventually, Spain made peace with the Americans, and the Cherokee ceased to fight against the Americans.

President George Washington encouraged The Five Civilized Tribes to become more civilized, after the Cherokee-American Wars ended in 1795 AD.  He had conducted treaties with them as autonomous nations inside the United States.  (Hence the title of "Nation" for these tribes)

The Five Civilized Tribes were to live in the areas that they had occupied at the end of the Cherokee-American Wars.  The federal government would supply them with what they needed to learn to live as Americans.  They would only be subject to Federal Law and the laws of their own nation.

The Five Civilized Tribes were recognized as autonomous nations that were dependent upon the United States for protection.  State laws did not apply on the land of these tribes, only federal law did.  Even federal law was subject to the terms of the treaty that each tribe had made with the US government.

How did George Washington treat the Five Civilized Tribes?

Washington consider the Native Americans to be biologically equal to European Americans.  Contrary to the attitude of many European Americans, he considered murder of a Native American to be equal with murder of a European American.  He was ready and willing to have anyone hung who murdered a Native American.

However, Washington also considered the Native Americans to be less advance in their societies than European Americans.  He wanted to bring their societies up to the same standard of civilization as that of European Americans.  He presumed that when these Native Americans were living like European Americans, then there would be acceptance of the Native Americans as equals by the European Americans.

His Secretary of War, Henry Knox, was also concerned about protecting the Native Americans.  Some European Americans said that the Native Americans could not be civilized and had to be exterminated.  He stated that this was a lie to justify their desire to exterminate the Native Americans in order to steal their land.  He believed that if Native Americans adhered to the same standards of civilization as European Americans, then this threat to their survival would end.

In order to accomplish this, Washington worked with Secretary of War Henry Knox to pursue cultural transformation of the Native Americans, starting with the Five Civilized Tribes.  They believed that the Native Americans needed to adopt the practices of private property, building family homes, farming, educating their children in schools, and embracing Christianity to be able to be integrated with the European Americans.

In order to accomplish this, Washington came up with a six point plan.  This plan included impartial justice towards Native Americans, regulated buying of their land for a fair price, promotion of commerce among Native Americans, experiments to improve their societies to become more like European American society, presidential authority to give presents to Native Americans to help them meet these goals, and punishment of all who violated the rights of Native Americans.

Washington was even willing to send federal troops to protect Native Americans from state militias.

Finally, he sent agents to live among the Native Americans to teach them how to do these things.

One of these was Benjamin Hawkins, who married a Creek woman and spent the rest of his life teaching the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee how to do these things.

As a result, by the time George Washington died in 1799 AD, the Five Civilized Tribes were had established schools, took up farming, converted to Christianity, and lived in European American style houses.

What inspired George Washington to treat the Five Civilized Tribes fairly?

George Washington was one of the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him).  His faith in the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) caused him to live differently.  He did not just say that he was a Christian, but he had the evidence of faith in everything that he did.

George Washington lived like he would have to give an account of his life to the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD).  He was willing to do whatever was necessary to ensure that the United States kept the treaties it made with the Native Americans as long as he was President.  He wanted the Native Americans to be able to see what the Father of Truth is like.

George Washington believed the words of the preamble of the Constitution, when it said that all men were created equal.  He had no tolerance for the Spirit of Anti-Jewism or any other ancestry based prejudice.

(George Washington even freed all his African American slaves in his will.  This was the only way he could free them under the laws of Virginia at the time.)

So, George Washington sought the good of Native Americans, because he believed what the Book of Truth (The Bible) said about them.  He knew that the hope of the Native Americans was depended upon them coming into the House of Truth.  

George Washington believed that the Father of Truth had made all ethnic groups, including Native Americans, to have the same blood from a common ancestor flowing through their veins, and had provided a place for each of them to live (Acts 17:26).  He believed that the Father of Truth was not willing for anyone to perish, including Native Americans (2 Peter 3:9).

George Washington believed that there was no difference between ethnic groups in the House of Truth (Galatians 3:26-28).  He believed that once Native Americans came into the House of Truth, there would be no difference between them and European Americans who came into the House of Truth (Colossians 3:9-11).

George Washington believed that that the law should apply to everyone equally as the Father of Truth had commanded (Leviticus 24:22).  He believed that rulers were not to show partiality when they administered justice (Deuteronomy 1:17).  His faith kept him from showing partiality between people (James 2:1).

George Washington believed that whatever he promised before the Father of Truth, like the treaties with the Five Civilized Nations that he made with an oath, had to be performed (Numbers 30:2).  He believed in keeping his agreements, even if they turned out to be harmful (Psalm 15:2-4).  He believed in keeping his agreements, and not trying to alter them when the circumstances changed (Psalm 89:34).  His yes meant yes, and his no meant no (Matthew 5:37).

George Washington believed that if he showed Native Americans the goodness of the Father of Truth, then that would lead them into the House of Truth (Romans 2:4).

The same is true for you, rather or not you have Native American ancestry.  The Father of Truth is calling you to experience His goodness for yourself (Psalm 34:8).  He has made a peace treaty available to you through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Man of Truth (Romans 5:1).

So, take His offer of peace by surrendering to the Man of Truth, because you believe that his Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!

Chief Ross

Was Chief Ross really a Cherokee Moses?

Thomas L. McKenney, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, described Chief John Ross as the father of the Cherokee Nation, a Moses who "led...his people in their exodus from the land of their nativity to a new country, and from the savage state to that of civilization.".  This was the sentiment of many of the Cherokee and the supporters of Chief Ross in Washington.

In order to see how accurate the comparison to Moses was, we have to start with understanding who Chief Ross was by examining what he did.

In 1790 AD, John Ross was born in Turkey Town, Alabama, to a one quarter Cherokee, three quarters Scottish, mother named Molly McDonald, and a Scottish father named Daniel Ross.  So, John Ross was only one eighth Cherokee and seven eighth Scottish.  Even his Cherokee name, "Guwisguwi" means "Mysterious Little White Bird".  He would seem to be more properly called, "the little Scotsman".

The little Scotsman was formally educated by Gideon Blackburn, another Scotsman, who was a minister of the Presbyterian Church, which was founded in Scotland.  Nonetheless, John Ross identified himself as a Cherokee.

After Ross finished his education at the military academy at South West Point in 1811 AD, he was appointed as the Indian agent to the Old Settler Cherokee in Arkansaw Territory.

However, Ross was called back to serve as adjutant of the Cherokee regiment to General Andrew Jackson in 1812 AD.  He fought along side General Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

Ross then returned home to start a tobacco plantation worked by his twenty slaves.  He then built a trading post and warehouse on the banks of the Tennessee River.  Then he started a ferry service he called, "Ross's Landing".  Later, the city that sprung up around his businesses was called Chattanooga.

In 1814 AD, the Principle Chief of the Cherokee, Pathkiller, made John Ross the clerk of the Cherokee nation to handle its business affairs.

Then in 1815 AD, the United States government set aside about a quarter of the modern state of Arkansas for Cherokee settlement.  The federal government then offered incentives to the Cherokee to relocate there voluntarily in a treaty.

So, in 1816 AD, John Ross was sent to Washington D. C. as part of a Cherokee delegation to negotiate with the US government.  Since, he was the only member fluent in English, he soon became the chief negotiator.

When the Cherokee Nation created a thirteen member national council in 1817 AD,  John Ross was elected as a member of the National Council.  (The Cherokee national council was made up almost entirely of wealthy, educated, English speaking men of minimal Cherokee ancestry like John Ross.)

That same year, many of the Cherokee in Tennessee and Old Settlers from Arkansaw Territory made a treaty with United States government to find a home land for the Cherokee in Arkansaw Territory and to relocate there with aid from the US government.  This treaty offered two-hundred thousand dollars for the Cherokee Nation to relocate to Arkansaw Territory.

Many of the Cherokee from Tennessee took the offer and joined with the Old Settler Cherokee already in Arkansas Territory to form the Cherokee Nation (West) in 1818 AD.

Because of his skills in dealing with the United States government, John Ross was elected as the President of the National Committee that same year.  His first act was to reject the ridiculous offer of two-hundred thousand dollars for the Cherokee Nation (East) to relocate to Arkansaw Territory.

In 1819 AD, John Ross was sent to lead a delegation to clarify the terms of the treaty that had been signed by the two splinter groups of Cherokee two years earlier.  In particular, he sought to limit the amount of ceded land and preserve the rights of the Cherokee Nation (East) in the rest of the land.

In 1822 AD, Secretary of War John Calhoun requested that the Cherokee Nation (East) release their lands in Georgia as President Thomas Jefferson had promised the state of Georgia in 1802 AD.  John Ross first polled the Cherokee people, and then responded that the Cherokee people unanimously rejected surrendering their land to the state of Georgia.

That same year, the Cherokee Supreme Court was founded.

In 1824 AD, Ross traveled to Washington to defend Cherokee claims to their land in Georgia.

Calhoun gave them an ultimatum:  Either the Cherokee Nation (East) surrender their land in Georgia and move west or the Cherokee Nation disband and its members become citizens of the United States in the state of Georgia.

Ross responded by petitioning Congress to hear the grievances of the Cherokee Nation (East).  His arguments of the subtle points about legal responsibilities caused Congress to side with the Cherokee Nation over the delegation sent by the state of Georgia.

In 1827 AD, Pathkiller, the last hereditary Principle Chief, died. Soon after, Ross was acting as the Principle Chief of the Cherokee.

Ross was then elected to the twenty-four member constitutional committee.  He led in the creation of a government modeled after the United States government consisting of an elected Principle Chief as head of the executive branch, a legislative branch called the General Council of the Cherokee Nation, which was composed of two houses - a council of principle chiefs and the National Committee, and the Cherokee Supreme Court as the head of the judiciary branch.

In 1828 AD, Ross became the first elected Principle Chief of the Cherokee Nation (East).

That same year, President John Quincy Adams signed a treaty with the Cherokee Nation (West) to move from Arkansaw Territory to Indian Territory.

In 1829 AD, the state of Georgia passed a set of laws designed to make life for the Cherokee Nation (East) so uncomfortable, that they would have no choice but to leave.

That same year, the Principle Chief of the Cherokee Nation (West), John Jolly, sent a letter to the Cherokee Nation (East) begging them to come to Indian Territory, which he described as a land of milk and honey.  Chief Ross forbid everyone in the Cherokee Nation (East) from moving to Indian Territory and joining the Cherokee Nation (West).

When the Indian Removal act was signed into law in 1830 AD by President Andrew Jackson, he sought to meet with the Cherokee Nation (East) to discuss a land swap, and how the Cherokee Nation (East) could most easily move to their new land in Indian Territory.  Chief Ross refused to meet with him and negotiate.

However, one third of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia moved to Indian Territory reluctantly, since it looked certain that Georgia was going to take their land without payment, if they waited.  They had no significant losses in their move.  They also became part of the Cherokee Nation (West).

Chief Ross instead sought help to take his case before the United States Supreme Court.  William Wirt, a former US General Attorney, took up the cause of the Cherokee Nation (East) on his behalf.

So, in 1831 AD, the US Supreme Court sided with the Cherokee Nation (East) in their claim that they were a self-governing nation in Cherokee Nation vs Georgia.

The next year, the US Supreme Court again sided with the Cherokee Nation (East) in their claim that the state of Georgia could not impose its laws on the Cherokee Nation in Worcester vs Georgia.

So in 1832 AD, Chief John Ross offered for the Cherokee land to be broken into allotments, with members of the Cherokee Nation (East) receiving the first allotments, the federal government receiving the rest of the land for five million dollars, and the members of Cherokee Nation becoming full citizens of the United States and the state of Georgia - with the same rights as all other citizens.  Both the United States and Georgia rejected the offer.

After this, the Cherokee Nation (East) was divided about what to do.

Most were persuaded by Chief Ross, that the United States government would not forced them to move to Indian Territory, if they would hold their ground.

However, many of the most educated among the Cherokee Nation (East) argued that the removal was inevitable, and the Cherokee Nation (East) should negotiate the best deal that it could get.

In 1833 AD, Chief Ross refused to meet with President Jackson to discuss his offer of three million dollars for their land east of the Mississippi and their removal to land west of the Mississippi.

Soon afterwards, a group of highly educated members of the Cherokee Nation (East) formed the Treaty Party.

That same year, the Cherokee Nation (West) formed a constitution and government patterned after the one formed by the Cherokee Nation (East).

Chief Ross asked in 1834 AD for fair payment for all of the Cherokee land in Georgia, and the Cherokee would conduct their own removal to Indian Territory under his supervision.  That was also rejected.

So, Chief Ross led the passage of a law that year, which stated that anyone who negotiated a deal for removal without consent of the General Council, was guilty of treason and could be put to death.  He also cancelled elections for the General Council to ensure that the National Party remained in power.

In 1835 AD, Chief Ross made another offer for the Cherokee Nation to move voluntarily to Indian Territory for a sum of twenty million dollars, provided that the General Council approved the deal.

Again, the United States and Georgia rejected the offer, because they believed that Chief Ross was just stalling for time.  (Which he was, because he hoped to get better terms from the next President of the US.)

Nevertheless, the Treaty Party negotiated a treaty for removal that year.  The New Echota treaty gave the Cherokee Nation (East) three years to move to Indian Territory and five million dollars for their land in Georgia.  The treaty was ratified by one vote in United States Senate.

Chief Ross was infuriated that he and the General Council, which he controlled, were bypassed in making this treaty.  So, he started working to bring the rest of the Cherokee Nation (East) in line with his wishes by making more laws against individual members abiding by the treaty.

Chief Ross and the national council urged the Cherokee Nation (East) to refuse to leave Georgia.  So, the Cherokee Nation (East) became determined to not be removed from the state of Georgia voluntarily on their own by the 1838 AD deadline.

However, many of the Cherokee Nation (East) began rethinking their position, realizing that removal was inevitable when Martin Van Buren, the Vice President of Andrew Jackson, was elected as President in 1836 AD.

So in 1837 AD, about two-thousand two hundred members of the Cherokee Nation (East) took the assistance offered by the United States government and voluntarily relocated to Indian Territory before the 1838 AD deadline.  Less than thirty of them died on the journey.

They also became part of the Cherokee Nation (west) when they arrived in Indian Territory.

The remainder of the Cherokee Nation (East), about sixteen thousand members, refused to leave Georgia. However, their efforts were in vain.

In the spring of 1838 AD, the United States army rounded up about two thousand, eight hundred members of the Cherokee Nation (East), and forced them to march to Indian Territory.  However, about one thousand two hundred escaped to the mountains, or were exempted from removal, because they owned private land outside of the Cherokee Nation (East).  About six hundred died on the forced march.

Soon, General Winfield Scott had the remaining twelve thousand members of the Cherokee Nation (East) put into eleven internment camps.  This allowed the Cherokee Nation (East) to both be controlled by his troops and protected from those European Americans who wanted to kill them.

The General Council realized that removal was inevitable.  So, they asked Scott for the removal to wait until cooler weather was set in.

However, Chief Ross was still holding out until he could ensure that his position was secure, and he was in charge of the removal.  Finally in September, Chief Ross finally conceded that removal was inevitable.

So, Chief Ross requested that the General Council be able to handle the removal, instead of the United States army, and the army pay the expenses.

Scott granted both requests, which outraged former President Andrew Jackson.  Scott then rewarded the contract for carrying out the removal to Chief Ross - with the approval of the General Council.

Ross divided the Cherokee Nation (East) into twelve wagon trains.  He put his brother Lewis in charge of obtaining the provisions needed for the journey.

The last wagon train left the last internment camp on November 6, 1838 AD, two months later than the General Council had requested.  By that time, three hundred and fifty three members of the Cherokee Nation (East) had died in the interment camps.

However, Chief Ross, and the rest of the Cherokee Nation (East) government officials, along with their families, did not travel in these wagon trains.

Instead, Chief Ross bought a river boat, the Victoria, with some of the removal payment.  These two hundred and nineteen members of the Cherokee Nation (East) used this river boat to travel to Indian Territory in comfort.  They supervised the removal from the Victoria.

This forced the wagon trains of the Cherokee Nation (East) to take a much longer route following the Tennessee River to the Ohio River, then the Ohio River to the Mississippi River, then the Mississippi River to the Arkansas River, and finally the Arkansas River to the edge of Indian Territory.  This route was twice as long as going directly overland to where the Arkansas River flowed into the Mississippi River and then following the Arkansas River to Indian Territory. 

So, those in the wagon trains walked as much as two thousand two hundred miles in the winter, due to the late departure caused by Chief Ross and his insistence on this longer northern route.

Chief Ross and the last wagon train arrived on March 25, 1839 AD in Indian Territory.  By that time there were about nine thousand six hundred Cherokees were left out of about eleven thousand eight hundred, who came in the wagon trains.  This was a loss of about two thousand four hundred Cherokees.

However, the wife of Chief Ross was the only recorded death on the Victoria.  In fact, there were fifteen more people at the end of the journey on the Victoria then at the beginning, mostly due to births.

So altogether, the Cherokee Nation (East) lost about three thousand, one hundred, and fifty members out of the sixteen thousand, who refused to go to Indian Territory on their own.  They also lost about another one thousand, two hundred members, who escaped to the mountains, instead of going to Indian Nation.  This makes about four thousand, three hundred and fifty members out of sixteen thousand counted in 1835 AD, that did not make it to Indian territory in 1839 AD, which is over a quarter of the Cherokee Nation (East).

This mismanaged reluctant removal supervised by Chief Ross is usually what the Cherokee mean when they say, "The Trail Of Tears".

(Half as many would have died, if they had left two months earlier.  Probably less than a quarter as many would have died, if they had also taken the more direct route to Arkansas.  They would have avoid traveling in winter altogether and arrived in Indian Territory in early November.  However, that would have required Chief Ross, the rest of the Cherokee (East) government, and their families to have went by wagon train to the Mississippi River, instead of traveling by riverboat all the way to Fort Smith, Arkansas.)

More over, Chief Ross, who was billing the United States army on a per person basis, showed about one thousand six hundred more people than the officers in charge counted at both the departure point and arrival point.  The sum of the records kept by the wagon train conductors agreed with the counts of the United States army.

President Van Buren refused to pay Chief Ross the extra half a million dollars for these fraudulent claims.  However, the next president of the United States, Tyler, gave the money to Chief Ross.

Not long afterwards in 1839 AD, members of the National Party killed three of the signers of the New Echota Treaty.  This attack on members of the Cherokee Nation (West), who included the Treaty Party, was repaid in 1842 AD.  This created the Cherokee Civil War, pitting the Cherokee Nation (East) against the Cherokee Nation (West).

In 1846 AD, the Cherokee Nation (West) asked President Polk to create two Cherokee Nations in Indian Territory, so there could be peace, but Chief Ross managed to get the bill to fail passage in Congress.

When the Cherokee Civil War was over in 1849 AD, the Cherokee had lost another fourth of their tribe along with destroying almost every thing that the Cherokee Nation (West) had done to help the tribe thrive in Indian Territory.

(Many of those that the Cherokee people lost due to the Cherokee Civil War did not actually die, but found life under the rule of Chief Ross to be unbearable.

Most of the Cherokee Nation (West) members left Indian Territory to go Mexico or California in 1849 AD, rather than remaining under the rule of Chief Ross. Some moved to form the town of Mount Clover in Mexico.

Other Cherokee Nation (West) members were so dissatisfied with Chief Ross that they formed the Keetoowah Band of the Cherokee in 1859 AD.)

When the American Civil War broke out in 1861 AD, the Cherokee Nation as deeply divided.

Most of the mixed blood Cherokee advocated for joining with the Confederacy to protect their slave holdings.  Most of the full blood Cherokee, including the Keetoowah Band, wanted to join the Union to end slavery.

Chief Ross gave very mixed signals, which only made matters worse.

First, he advocated neutrality, but he soon found this to be impossible.

Then he gave a speech that the Cherokee Nation should join the Confederacy when the US abandoned its forts in Indian Territory and Arkansas in 1862 AD.

After learning that the Confederacy was losing the war in 1863 AD, he advocated the Cherokee Nation join the Union.  He then left to meet with President Lincoln to negotiate the Cherokee Nation joining the Union.

Many of the pro-Confederacy tribe members with slaves fled to Texas to escape the General Council - that was suddenly pro-Union.

Then the pro-Confederacy faction took control of the Cherokee Nation in 1864 AD, while Chief Ross was absent.  Their leader, Stand Watie, burned down the house of Chief Ross, and killed his son-in-law, to avenge his fellow New Echota Treaty signers that had been killed twenty-five years earlier.

Most of the newly pro-Union General Council then had to flee to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for protection from the pro-Confederacy faction.

However, a period of lawlessness marked by revenge killings by both sides under the guise of war continued within the Cherokee Nation.

By the time the war ended in 1865 AD, the tribe had lost another fourth of its population.

After Chief Ross returned, he was summoned to appear in Fort Smith, Arkansas, by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Cooley.

Cooley informed Chief Ross that since most of the Cherokee Nation had sided with the Confederacy against the Union, that they had violated the terms of their former treaty to not take up arms against the United States.  So, they would have to negotiate a new treaty.

Then Chief Ross died in 1866 AD while negotiating with President Andrew Johnson in Washington for a more favorable treaty.  Before his death, he was able to persuade President Johnson to reject the punitive treaty that Cooley had advocated.

Now we can make a fair comparison between Chief Ross in his leading the Cherokee to Indian Territory with Moses leading the Hebrews to the Promised Land.

Moses was a full blood Hebrew (Exodus 2:1-2).  Chief Ross was only one eighth Cherokee.

Moses was given a name by a member of the oppressors of the Hebrews (Exodus 2:9-10).  Chief Ross was given a name by a member of the oppressors of the Cherokee.

Moses was adopted into the family of the oppressors of the Hebrews (Acts 7:21).  Chief Ross was born into the family of the oppressors of the Cherokee.

Moses was educated in the ways of the oppressors of the Hebrews and did exploits among them (Acts 7:22).  Chief Ross was educated in the ways of the oppressors of the Cherokee and did exploits among them.

Moses was rejected as ruler by his people when he tried to deliver them from oppression (Exodus 2:11-14).  Chief Ross was accepted as ruler by his people when he tried to deliver them from oppression.

Moses gave up the riches of the oppressors of his people to join in their suffering (Hebrews 11:24-26).  Chief Ross accepted the riches of the oppressors of his people to avoid joining in their suffering.

Moses had to flee to a foreign land away from his people (Exodus 2:15-22).  Chief Ross was able to remain in his native land with his people.

Moses was commissioned to move his people away from their oppressors and to a land of milk and honey (Exodus 3:8-10).  Chief Ross forbid his people from moving away from their oppressors and to a land of milk and honey.

Moses was commissioned to deliver people from slavery (Exodus 6:6-11).  Chief Ross held people in slavery.

Moses met with the ruler of the oppressors of the Hebrews to negotiate a favorable treaty (Exodus 10:3-9).  Chief Ross met with the ruler of the oppressors of the Cherokee to negotiate a favorable treaty.

The people of Moses were set free by their captors to go to their new land (Exodus 12:31-33).  The people of Chief Ross were led captive by their oppressors to their new land.

The oppressors of the people of Moses paid them to leave their land (Exodus 12:35-36).  The oppressors of the people of Chief Ross paid them to leave their land.

A mixed multitude of other people left the land of their oppressors with the Hebrews (Exodus 12:37-38).  A mixed multitude of other people left the land of their oppressors with the Cherokee.

The army of the oppressors of the people of Moses was completely destroyed, after the Hebrews left the land of their oppressors (Exodus 14:13-27).  The army of the oppressors of the people of Chief Ross continued without casualties, after the Cherokee left the land of their oppressors.

Moses endured the discomfort of the wilderness with his people as they journeyed to their new land (Exodus 15:22-27).  Chief Ross enjoyed the comfort of a riverboat while his people journeyed to their new land.

Moses gave the Hebrews the laws and covenant created by the Father of Truth (Exodus 24:3-8). Chief Ross gave the Cherokee the laws and covenant created by the Cherokee constitutional committee.

Moses was the meekest man on Earth (Numbers 12:3).  Chief Ross was not in any sense meek.

Moses was not able to enter with his people into their new land (Deuteronomy 34:1-5).  Chief Ross entered with his people into their new land.

So, while there are some similarities between Chief Ross leading the Cherokees to Indian Territory with Moses leading the Hebrews to the Promised Land, there are also significant differences.  It is safe to say that Chief Ross was not really a Cherokee Moses.

In fact, many among the Cherokee and the political leaders in Washington considered Ross to be a dictatorial, greedy, and an aristocratic leader who defrauded the Cherokee Nation.

After all, during the thirty years between when the Cherokee Nation refused to abide by the New Echota Treaty and the end of the American Civil War, the Cherokee Nation had lost more than five eighth of its population under the leadership of Chief Ross.

Also, due to the leadership of Chief Ross, the once united Cherokee Nation became a divided and scattered people.

The Cherokee Nation ended up split into three separate tribes inside the United States.  The few remaining members of the Cherokee Nation (West) left in Indian Territory became the Keetoowah Band of the Cherokee.  Those of the Cherokee Nation (East) that escaped relocation to Indian Territory, formed the Eastern Band of the Cherokee.  The Cherokee Nation (East) that was relocated to Indian Territory under Chief Ross, became known simply as the Cherokee Nation.

However, many members of the Cherokee Nation (West) were scattered to Mexico and California, and many members of the Cherokee Nation (East) were scattered to Texas and Kansas.  Many of the Cherokee Nation (West) also remained in Arkansas.  None of these scattered Cherokee people are recognized by either the United States government nor by the three federally recognized tribes as part of the Cherokee people.

Yet, it is not over for the Cherokee.  After all, they are a tribe in North America like no other.

Not only is it not over for the Cherokee, but it is not over for the First Nations of North America.  The hope of the Almodadi is found in the Prophet of Truth who really is like Moses.

Moses said that the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) would raise up a Prophet of Truth who is like him from the descendants of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:15).  The Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) is that Prophet of Truth who is like Moses (Acts 7:37).

Anyone who does not obey that Prophet of Truth who is like Moses, will have to answer to the Father of Truth (Deuteronomy 18:18-19).  Everyone must obey this Prophet of Truth who is like Moses - or they will be destroyed (Acts 3:20-23).  The Father of Truth has given everyone assurance of this by raising the Man of Truth from the dead (Acts 17:31).

So, come into the House of Truth by doing your best to obey that Prophet of Truth who is like Moses, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!