Trails Of Tears

Some years ago I met Will Thoms at the Community of Aidan  and Hilda US retreat at Albuquerque, New Mexico.  What he told me about his vision of a returning Brendan and his ministry among indigenous people inspired me to write Brendan's Return Voyage: a New American Dream (Wipf & Stock).  Will now sends me this inspiring, heroic news of sharing in two persecuted indigenous peoples' trail of tears. Pray it will help in the long, painful process of healing:

'Please join Millie and I in prayer as we are about to join the Yavapai and Apache peoples of the Verde Valley in their yearly commemorative event of their 1875 trail of tears. We will tonight at 2 AM ride with 30 of our native neighbors over to the San Carlos Apache reservation and then do a run for the next 30 hours, one person at a time, up to the town of Payson and on back to Camp Verde where their Cultural Center is located.

As you probably recall about 3 years ago the Lord led Millie and I, from Flagstaff, south to the small town of Camp Verde. Our home is literally a stones throw from the actual Camp or Fort Verde.

Why did this 19th century fort exist here in the middle of Arizona? Because in the 1860s people, miners, ranchers and settlers started to see the economic potential of this land and their moving in created much friction with the tribes who needed free access to water, hunting, gathering and farming areas in order to feed themselves and their families.

Prior to the 1860s the 20 some tribes in this AZ region only saw very rare visits by non Natives, except for up north on the Hopi mesas, which the Spanish had conquered and held for about 80 years, during the 1600s. By the late 1860s US Army “forts” were being established to protect the newcomers and subdue the Indians.

In 1871 the Rio Verde Reservation was established by Executive Order, extending 40 miles along the river and for 10 miles on either side. That same year General Crook ordered that all “roving Apache” - Yavapai were to be on a reservation or be treated as hostile. By 1873 most Yavapai had surrendered and with no compensation for their lands located to the Rio Verde Reservation. Soon they were getting established with successful farming, but then government contractors in Tucson convinced Washington to completely remove the people en masse to the San Carlos Apache Reservation in southeast Arizona, 150 miles away.

General Crook, submitted to the new orders begrudgingly, as he had convinced the natives to believe in their safety and new life on the reservation. The government agent, who had full authority, decided to move the 3,000 native men, women, children and elders cross country in the winter month of February 1875 to the San Carlos Apache reservation. The Apache were Athabaskan speaking people who migrated down from the north about 300 years prior. They were a totally different people group culturally and linguistically. In addition within a few years native children were taken away to distant boarding schools in a governmental attempt to hasten cultural assimilation.

In 1900, about 25 years later those Yavapai families started to straggle back home to the Verde Valley, without any government opposition. Today they have 4 small reservation communities.

It is this trail of tears and eventual Exodus, return home, that we commemorate with them this weekend. Please pray for safety on the road, as we will very likely encounter snow, especially up in the mile high Payson area. Pray that this overall event will be meaningful and even healing for the people. Please pray that Millie and I and any other followers of Jesus among us can well represent the love of Jesus and the spirit of reconciliation to all who we encounter.'

Posted at 10:03am on 27th April 2023
Blog Archive
books
Shalom!: Celtic Prayers for Wholeness and Healing
£0.00 + P&P
More Info
buy now
The Way of Life For the Third Millennium (Hardback)
£16.99 + P&P
More Info
buy now