February 28, 2024 • 34 mins
In this deeply stirring episode of The Passage, the Ferryman, brought to life by the rich voice of Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, The Walking Dead), encounters a soul carrying the weight of a nation's tears and a people's fractured spirit. Suate Standing Deer, a composite character representing the complex web of loyalty, betrayal, and survival during the Cherokee removal, steps into the spirit realm, his presence a testament to the immense suffering endured on the Trail of Tears.
As the Ferryman guides him through the fog of history and sorrow, Suate Standing Deer, voiced by the legendary Wes Studi (The Last of the Mohicans / Geronimo: An American Legend) recounts the tumultuous times of the Treaty of New Echota of 1835. He speaks of Major Ridge and the Treaty Party, who, under the suffocating pressure of the federal government, believed that ceding their lands and relocating west of the Mississippi was the only path to preserving Cherokee rights and existence. The divisive treaty not only fragmented their land but also the very soul of the Cherokee Nation.
In the wake of forced removal and the tragic journey that became known as the Trail of Tears, Suate Standing Deer finds himself entangled in the repercussions of the treaty. Blamed for the loss of the ancestral Cherokee lands and the countless lives lost during the removal, Major Ridge's fate becomes a symbol of the deep wounds inflicted upon the Cherokee people.
Suate Standing Deer, chosen as an instrument of retribution according to the Cherokee Blood Law, grapples with the haunting question: Was his act of assassination an assertion of justice and autonomy in the face of overwhelming oppression and despair? Or was he the victim of an infectious bloodlust spread by the encroaching influence of the white man?
As the narrative unfolds, the Ferryman listens, his silent gaze a mirror reflecting the tangled interplay of cultural erosion, survival, and the search for identity in the face of unspeakable loss.
In this episode of The Passage, listeners are invited to traverse the blurred lines between vengeance and justice, between the preservation of tradition and the corrosive impact of external forces. Written by Michael Owl.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I am the fairy man.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
The human spirit is my business. Their madness, their passion,
the wonderful and monstrous ways they burn out their brief candle.
I regret to tell you that very many American lives
in love.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Was heard to shouts from the car.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
He's dead.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Whether he rebird to president.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Or wait for four hours, people must get up and
google identifica.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I am here in the in between, to collect their
spirits and carry them to what comes next. This road
is not on any map. It spanned the thresholds between
their most forbidden desires and their greatest fear. All I
(01:20):
ask for in payment is a tale and accounting of
their lives and the great temporary that is the land
of living. These are their stories.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
This is.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
The passage yeah the Oklahoma territories. The smell of dirt
(02:22):
and wood smoke. Grassland is far as the eye can
see the sky. The sky here is massive, envelops the
whole of the earth and the soil, rich and dark
and bloody. We meet someone today who did not choose
(02:48):
this land. His land is far to the east, the
land of the ancient mountains orn down by time, of
dense woods that cover the land that cradle its people
that shield them from the great terrible sky. His people
(03:11):
did not willingly leave the safety of their bows.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
They were forced west by.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Men who came from over the Atlantic and arrived with
their guns and their crosses, bent on subjugating a land
that was not theirs for the taking. This man resisted
the colonizers. This man rose up and fought back against
(03:40):
those who tore his people from their lands. We find
him here in the tier drenched plains, Suyeta standing dear.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Oh so you sue.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Hello, follow me.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
English? Then, of course English. I should not be surprised
that it has spread to even here. We are on
the way to the spirit realm.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yes, Bingo, I'm here to offer you passage.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Mm hmmm, the darkening land in the west. My grandfather
told me about the next plane, the first of the
next five. I know this place from my dreams. This
realm runs parallel with the other one, casting its shadow.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
There we are to begin our journey.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yes, I am old, I have lived in a I'm ready. Well.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
There is a matter of payment.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Payment. Again, I should not be surprised, but I have
no medicine, no tobacco, I have no money. You have
nothing to offer you.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, you have a story I wish to hear it.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
A story I won't stories I can tell you. I
can tell you of the origin of my homeland, how
the water beetle came down from the sky vault to
dove deep into the ocean to find the mud that
(06:08):
spread the continents. I can tell you how the great
Buzzard grew tired and flew too close to the ground,
so that when his wings went up, he created the mountains,
and when his wings went down, he made the valleys.
I can tell you how the world was cool and
dark then, so the creator sent lightning that blazed a
(06:31):
fire in a tree on a nearby island, And how
even though many animals tried to retrieve it, none but
the lowly water spider, who made a pot from clay
and weaved a basket on her back, could bring the
fire to the real people. That's what we call ourselves,
(06:53):
the ANDII. It was others that called his chakes. The
elders told me many stories that I could tell you,
stories that would teach you, Kadugi, how we work together
for the betterment of all of us, and do the
(07:15):
right paths each one must follow for balance. Peace and harmony.
But these are not the stories you want to hear.
You look at my hands like you already know what
they've done. You want a blood story, Fine, I have one.
(07:42):
I'll tell you why I did what I did, and
if you think I have done wrong, we will part
ways with the knowledge that you have at least heard
the truth. From the beginning, we were here and for
(08:09):
thousands of years we had only two laws. One do
not marry within your clan, and the other blood law.
Blood law meant that if someone was murdered, their clan
had the right, had the responsibility to murder someone in
(08:30):
the offending clan. It was the way to restore balance.
Then the Europeans came. They brought diseases or plants didn't
know how to cure. They brought weapons Our warriors didn't
know how to fight, and they brought their God. They
(08:51):
say they are made in their God's image, and so
they say they should rule over every other living thing. Well,
they are right, they are made in their God's image,
and like their God, they are completely insane. They think
(09:13):
the world belongs to them, the land, the water, life us.
We couldn't reason with them, We couldn't convince them they
were wrong. Still, we tried to get along. Some of
us adopted their ways. Men turned from hunting to farming,
(09:34):
women from farming to domesticity. Sequoia created our system for writing.
We began a newspaper printed in English and Cherokee. We
formed a government with a constitution based on the invader's own.
(09:54):
We even mentioned their god in it, and we codified
what was already known, that the punishment for giving away
our land was death. The white politicians thought the more
traditional conservative Cherokees would give up the land be nomad's hunt,
(10:18):
and that the mixed bloods were the ones holding out
to retain their power. They did not know that even
the Cherokees, who learned their language and studied at their
schools and worshiped their God, also wanted to remain. Georgia
(10:38):
wanted our land. Gold had been discovered, after all. Jackson said,
build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough,
they'll move. The Georgia Guard and their legislature provided the heat,
and our people got burned. The state passed laws designed
(11:02):
to force us away, and the Guard terrorized our people.
But with all the theft and lies and brutality, there
was hope. The Supreme Court decided that the State of
Georgia did not have the authority over our affairs, that
(11:25):
it had no right to extend its laws over the
Cherokee people. Just as Marshall wrote that the Cherokee nation
was separate and sovereign, he pointed out that we were
not savages, but legitimate Indian nations with our own traditions
(11:47):
and institutions. That we were and had been treated in
the past as equals. Our entire nation rejoiced to celebrate
was short lived when he heard the decision. President Andrew
Jackson reportedly commented, John Marshall has made his decision. Now
(12:13):
let him enforce it. Now. Whether he actually said the
words or not hardly matters. His point of view was clear.
The judgment meant nothing, and that is when some of
our most capable leaders parted ways. Before this, John Ross
(12:35):
and the leaders of what we called the Treaty Party
agreed to fight removal at all costs. But now if
the laws were in our favor and still not sufficient,
what should we do? What did it mean to be
a loyal Cherokee? What was better to leave our ancestral
(12:58):
lends and live as we please? Away from the white man.
And if we did that, how long would it be
before they came for these new lands? Or should we
stay and fight and possibly die? Chief Frost thought a
loyal Cherokee would never trade his homeland. Some others thought
(13:23):
that giving up the land was worth saving Cherokee sovereignty
and identity against the degradations of the white settlers. I
was twelve years old in eighteen thirty five, the year
Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and Elias Budenot signed
(13:44):
the Treaty of knew each Other and sold away our homeland.
The United States knew the traders represented only a handful
of Cherokees and had no authority to negotiate. Both sides
(14:05):
went through with the charade. After the treaty was signed
by the traders and ratified by one vote in the Senate,
there was nothing else to be done. We call it
now no through Natoila, the trail where they cried, the
trail of tears. And if you want to know why
(14:30):
we did what we did, this is it. The knock
on the door came at midday. My grandfather answered it.
Thirty Georgia guard were waiting outside the house with guns.
(14:51):
They told us we could take what we could carry.
I watched my mom decide what we'd bring. When we
left the house, they burned it down. My father walked
(15:12):
with his arm around my mother's shoulders. She cried into
his chest. My sister cried alone. I watched my feet
as I walked. I could feel the eyes of the
soldiers on the back of my neck, and when they laughed,
I knew they were laughing at me, at us. We
(15:37):
were held in stockades for months. There was no roof,
only large poles in the ground fencing us in. We starved,
people died, More people came and replaced the dead. We
stayed like that for months, and then when the mud
(15:59):
had dried and the temperatures lowered, they forced us to march.
What can I say to make you understand the devastation
to know that you are leaving the place where your
ancestors lived for thousands of years, To be forced to
(16:20):
leave behind the bones of your grandfathers and grandmothers, to
never again see good one the mother town, to leave
behind your home and possessions, beets and livestock, to have
it all given away by lottery to liars brutes, And
(16:44):
of course the pain of the march itself hundreds hundreds
of miles. It was the roughest on the young, the old,
and the sick. Babies were born and died, Aunties and
grand fathers carried until they could be carried no longer,
(17:04):
and then left by the side of the trail. And
the coldest winter anyone had seen in years. Supplies limited.
Disease spread, pneumonia, dysentery. The stench of sickness and death
(17:24):
has never left me. At least four thousand people died
on the trail, and there was nothing to be done
about it but walk and survive. We met at the
(17:46):
council house for the trial. There were one hundred of
us there. I was among the youngest. Three judges from
the clan of each trader were present, The defendants were not.
But what was the dispute. Didn't our laws say that
(18:09):
whoever sells Cherokee land without counsel approval should be put
to death. Weren't their signatures on the treaty? What was
to debate? What more evidence was needed? Had Major Rich
as he signed his mark on the Treaty of nu Echoda, said,
(18:31):
I've signed my death warrant? What more should we have done?
After the men were found guilty, a committee was appointed
to plan the executions. Numbers were put in a hat,
one for each person present. Twelve were marked with an
(18:55):
X executioner. The hat smelled of horses and sweat. My
hand shook as I pulled my lot, and my father
and I both pulled an axe. He looked at me
with sad eyes. And it'll be okay, he said. I
(19:17):
tried to say, but my mouth had gone dry. In
the very early morning of June twenty two, eighteen thirty nine,
three separate groups of Cherokees rode out to assassinate Elias
Budnot Major Ridge and his son John Ridge. A group
(19:43):
of about thirty rode out to Park Hill and hid
in the trees near the house that Budnut was building.
Two members of the group Budenot for medicine. It was
his job to dispense it to the people in the
(20:05):
area as they want to get it. One of the
men stamped him in the back, and the other split
his skull open with a tomahawk. Another group ambushed Major
Ridge near white Rock Creek. Five bullets entered his body
(20:30):
and he fell face down into the creek. Our group
arrived at John Ridges, just before dawn. I wanted to
go inside, but my father told me to stay on
my horse. He and three others crept quietly into the bedroom.
(20:55):
One of the men had a gun. Justice would be quick.
Those of us outside waited to hear the blast and
to write off, but minutes passed and nothing had happened.
I dismounted and walked towards the house. Before i'd taken
(21:16):
six steps, John Wedge's body flew out the front door
and landed hard in the dirt in front of me.
Only he wasn't dead. He tried to get up, but
my father ran out the door and tackled him and
me both. I grabbed one of John's legs and held
(21:38):
on as tight as I could. I could hear John's
wife screaming from the house. Then two shadows flitted past
me and pushed her back inside. I could still hear
her pleased, but they meant nothing to me. All of
my energy was devoted to holding on to his leg.
Bridge was talking, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.
(22:02):
My dad had started war whooping. Maybe he remembered how
persuasive John Ridge could be. Maybe he didn't want to
hear the screams of pain. He motioned for the rest
of us to join in. I tried, but I couldn't.
The others had now surrounded us and were circling him,
(22:23):
jumping and yelling. Others were helping hold him down now
and there was a high pitched scream that split through
the whooping, and the leg went still. Then I opened
my eyes. A knife was lodged in his heart. I
(22:52):
slowly got up and dust myself off. My dad helped
me back on my horse. I was woozy from the
effort of holding on, and we rode off. Justice had
been served. I'm anxious to complete my journey. Are you
(23:16):
satisfied now? Well, I don't care if you are. You
wanted a blood story, and you got one. I didn't
leave anything out, and if I did, it's because I'm
old and that was a long time ago. Why are
(23:39):
you looking at my hand again? I told you. I
grabbed his leg, I held it down. I wasn't even
supposed to do that. I was supposed to stay on
my horse, but Dad was in there too long and
(24:00):
I thought something might have happened. So I got off
and walked toward the house. And that's when I got
knocked down, and that's when I held onto bridges legs
so he couldn't kick anyone or get up. Stop looking
at my hand. There's nothing on it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Blood.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Oh, this is a little cut, and I remember now
what it's from. I forgot. I was holding one leg,
but his other leg had gotten free and he must
have kicked the knife out of someone's hand. I picked
(24:48):
it up without thinking and gave it back, but I
accidentally grabbed it by the blade and it must have
cut me. So that explains the blood. Now we can
go have your story. I'm ready to move on. Stop
looking at me like that. But there shouldn't be this
(25:09):
much blood. Why is there blood on my shirt? It
really was only a small cut, and my whole arm
is wet. Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it,
(25:32):
but I was trying to give the knife back. But
I feel in the knife and the knife went into
his gut and I heard him scream like I heard
so many others scream and wail and cry. He gave
(25:54):
away our lands. He gave away our lands. So I
stabbed him again and again and then again, at one
for each sacred place he threw away in the name
of their God and their power. But he still cried.
So I stabbed him and the throne and his blood
went everywhere, and I kept stabby until someone pulled me
(26:17):
off him, and I yelled my war cry, and as
one we picked up his dead body high above our heads,
and we held him up, and without anyone saying so,
(26:38):
we threw him down on the ground and stomped on him,
one stomp for each of the one million steps we
took away from our home. When we were done, we
mounted up and rode to Joseph Lynch's place. He'd prepare
(27:02):
a feast from a beef he'd harvested in preparation for
our arrival. My father rode ahead of me and didn't
look back. When we got to the farm, I ate
till I was full, and after a while I walked
(27:22):
over to the shade of a large tuniper tree and
I threw up that's it. That's the story. Are you
satisfied now?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
I am.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Now you understand why we did what we did. Can
you tell me that I acted wrongly?
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It is not my way to judge.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
In my last years back in our homeland East, I
think back on the treaty party especially Major Ridge, Warrior
statesman Trader, and his son John. I remember John Ridge's
words in the Cherokee newspaper before removal. He said, you
(28:31):
asked us to throw off the hunter and warrior state.
We did so. You asked us to form a republican government.
We did so, adopting your own as a model. You
asked us to cultivate the earth and learn the mechanic arts.
(28:56):
We did so. You asked us to learn to read.
We did so. You asked us to cast away our
idols and worship your God. We did so, and he
was right. We did so. And what was it for?
(29:18):
The white man has severed his relationship with his soul,
and he is at war with himself. His soul calls
to him from this side, but he can't hear. This
is how he became the oppressor of the earth, always
(29:38):
taking more and more and unsated hunger. This is the
only way he could allow himself to commit these unspeakable
horrors against us and the earth. Madness cannot negotiate with madness,
(30:04):
you cannot defend against it. The invisible weapon of the
white man. His madness spreads like a curse, his savagery
and bloodluss spread. His fear becomes your fear. His self
loathing becomes your self loathing. His savagery becomes your savagery.
(30:28):
His hatred and rage get lodged in your heart like
pellets and powder. The more we tried diplomacy with the
white Man, the more our own madness grew, until we
were also at more with ourselves. It is said that
(31:03):
we are not allowed to journey on to the next
level until we learn particular lessons in this one. If
that is true, then the thing I have learned is this.
There was nothing that the Treaty Party or the Ross
Party could have done to prevent our tragedy. There is
(31:28):
no cure for the white man's selfishness and greed. There
is no medicine for this madness. But one day this
madness will destroy him, and when there is nothing of
earth left to devour, he will devour himself. I hope
(31:50):
the great Spirit lets me see it. Until then I
will wait here.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
In the land of the dead. Through the dog on high.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
So he passes westward. The justice he sought was small,
but together with a million other drops, it helps the
tide to rise more injustice will be done on this
soil by Jackson and a thousand men after him, in
(32:38):
the name of a mad god. This hard culling is
far from over. Countless women, men and children, elderly and
infants will be massacred. I will pass over this land
again and again, then again and again, walking with these men, women, children,
(32:59):
taking long before their time, and will carry their stories
with me long after they have crossed the threshold to
the next beyond. These souls plucked from life too early,
are the heaviest. They weigh on the people on the
land itself. They leave their whispers and the wind, and
(33:20):
wear grooves and the stone as they make their passage.
(33:54):
The Passage stars Dan Fogler as the Ferryman.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
This episode features Wes Study as Uyetat.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Written by Michael Owel with additional writing by Dan Bush
and Nicholas Dakoski. Our executive producers are Nicholas Dakoski, Matthew Frederick,
and Alexander Williams. First Assistant director, script's supervisor and production
coordinator Sarah Klein. Music by Ben Lovett, additional music by
Alexander Rodriguez. Casting by Sunday Bowling Kennedy and Meg Mormon.
(34:22):
Editing and sound designed by Dan Bush, dialogue editing and
sound mixing by Jan Campos. Additional sound editing by Racket Sound.
Our supervising producer is Josh Than.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Created by Dan Bush and Nicholas Dakoski. Produced by Dan Bush.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
The Passage is a production of iHeartRadio and Cycopia Pictures
I am the fairy man.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
The human spirit is my business. Their madness, their passion,
the wonderful and monstrous ways they burn out their brief candle.
I regret to tell you that very many American lives
in love.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Was heard to shouts from the car.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
He's dead.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Whether he rebird to president.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Or wait for four hours, people must get up and
google identifica.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I am here in the in between, to collect their
spirits and carry them to what comes next. This road
is not on any map. It spanned the thresholds between
their most forbidden desires and their greatest fear. All I
(01:20):
ask for in payment is a tale and accounting of
their lives and the great temporary that is the land
of living. These are their stories.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
This is.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
The passage yeah the Oklahoma territories. The smell of dirt
(02:22):
and wood smoke. Grassland is far as the eye can
see the sky. The sky here is massive, envelops the
whole of the earth and the soil, rich and dark
and bloody. We meet someone today who did not choose
(02:48):
this land. His land is far to the east, the
land of the ancient mountains orn down by time, of
dense woods that cover the land that cradle its people
that shield them from the great terrible sky. His people
(03:11):
did not willingly leave the safety of their bows.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
They were forced west by.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Men who came from over the Atlantic and arrived with
their guns and their crosses, bent on subjugating a land
that was not theirs for the taking. This man resisted
the colonizers. This man rose up and fought back against
(03:40):
those who tore his people from their lands. We find
him here in the tier drenched plains, Suyeta standing dear.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Oh so you sue.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Hello, follow me.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
English? Then, of course English. I should not be surprised
that it has spread to even here. We are on
the way to the spirit realm.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yes, Bingo, I'm here to offer you passage.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Mm hmmm, the darkening land in the west. My grandfather
told me about the next plane, the first of the
next five. I know this place from my dreams. This
realm runs parallel with the other one, casting its shadow.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
There we are to begin our journey.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yes, I am old, I have lived in a I'm ready. Well.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
There is a matter of payment.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Payment. Again, I should not be surprised, but I have
no medicine, no tobacco, I have no money. You have
nothing to offer you.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, you have a story I wish to hear it.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
A story I won't stories I can tell you. I
can tell you of the origin of my homeland, how
the water beetle came down from the sky vault to
dove deep into the ocean to find the mud that
(06:08):
spread the continents. I can tell you how the great
Buzzard grew tired and flew too close to the ground,
so that when his wings went up, he created the mountains,
and when his wings went down, he made the valleys.
I can tell you how the world was cool and
dark then, so the creator sent lightning that blazed a
(06:31):
fire in a tree on a nearby island, And how
even though many animals tried to retrieve it, none but
the lowly water spider, who made a pot from clay
and weaved a basket on her back, could bring the
fire to the real people. That's what we call ourselves,
(06:53):
the ANDII. It was others that called his chakes. The
elders told me many stories that I could tell you,
stories that would teach you, Kadugi, how we work together
for the betterment of all of us, and do the
(07:15):
right paths each one must follow for balance. Peace and harmony.
But these are not the stories you want to hear.
You look at my hands like you already know what
they've done. You want a blood story, Fine, I have one.
(07:42):
I'll tell you why I did what I did, and
if you think I have done wrong, we will part
ways with the knowledge that you have at least heard
the truth. From the beginning, we were here and for
(08:09):
thousands of years we had only two laws. One do
not marry within your clan, and the other blood law.
Blood law meant that if someone was murdered, their clan
had the right, had the responsibility to murder someone in
(08:30):
the offending clan. It was the way to restore balance.
Then the Europeans came. They brought diseases or plants didn't
know how to cure. They brought weapons Our warriors didn't
know how to fight, and they brought their God. They
(08:51):
say they are made in their God's image, and so
they say they should rule over every other living thing. Well,
they are right, they are made in their God's image,
and like their God, they are completely insane. They think
(09:13):
the world belongs to them, the land, the water, life us.
We couldn't reason with them, We couldn't convince them they
were wrong. Still, we tried to get along. Some of
us adopted their ways. Men turned from hunting to farming,
(09:34):
women from farming to domesticity. Sequoia created our system for writing.
We began a newspaper printed in English and Cherokee. We
formed a government with a constitution based on the invader's own.
(09:54):
We even mentioned their god in it, and we codified
what was already known, that the punishment for giving away
our land was death. The white politicians thought the more
traditional conservative Cherokees would give up the land be nomad's hunt,
(10:18):
and that the mixed bloods were the ones holding out
to retain their power. They did not know that even
the Cherokees, who learned their language and studied at their
schools and worshiped their God, also wanted to remain. Georgia
(10:38):
wanted our land. Gold had been discovered, after all. Jackson said,
build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough,
they'll move. The Georgia Guard and their legislature provided the heat,
and our people got burned. The state passed laws designed
(11:02):
to force us away, and the Guard terrorized our people.
But with all the theft and lies and brutality, there
was hope. The Supreme Court decided that the State of
Georgia did not have the authority over our affairs, that
(11:25):
it had no right to extend its laws over the
Cherokee people. Just as Marshall wrote that the Cherokee nation
was separate and sovereign, he pointed out that we were
not savages, but legitimate Indian nations with our own traditions
(11:47):
and institutions. That we were and had been treated in
the past as equals. Our entire nation rejoiced to celebrate
was short lived when he heard the decision. President Andrew
Jackson reportedly commented, John Marshall has made his decision. Now
(12:13):
let him enforce it. Now. Whether he actually said the
words or not hardly matters. His point of view was clear.
The judgment meant nothing, and that is when some of
our most capable leaders parted ways. Before this, John Ross
(12:35):
and the leaders of what we called the Treaty Party
agreed to fight removal at all costs. But now if
the laws were in our favor and still not sufficient,
what should we do? What did it mean to be
a loyal Cherokee? What was better to leave our ancestral
(12:58):
lends and live as we please? Away from the white man.
And if we did that, how long would it be
before they came for these new lands? Or should we
stay and fight and possibly die? Chief Frost thought a
loyal Cherokee would never trade his homeland. Some others thought
(13:23):
that giving up the land was worth saving Cherokee sovereignty
and identity against the degradations of the white settlers. I
was twelve years old in eighteen thirty five, the year
Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and Elias Budenot signed
(13:44):
the Treaty of knew each Other and sold away our homeland.
The United States knew the traders represented only a handful
of Cherokees and had no authority to negotiate. Both sides
(14:05):
went through with the charade. After the treaty was signed
by the traders and ratified by one vote in the Senate,
there was nothing else to be done. We call it
now no through Natoila, the trail where they cried, the
trail of tears. And if you want to know why
(14:30):
we did what we did, this is it. The knock
on the door came at midday. My grandfather answered it.
Thirty Georgia guard were waiting outside the house with guns.
(14:51):
They told us we could take what we could carry.
I watched my mom decide what we'd bring. When we
left the house, they burned it down. My father walked
(15:12):
with his arm around my mother's shoulders. She cried into
his chest. My sister cried alone. I watched my feet
as I walked. I could feel the eyes of the
soldiers on the back of my neck, and when they laughed,
I knew they were laughing at me, at us. We
(15:37):
were held in stockades for months. There was no roof,
only large poles in the ground fencing us in. We starved,
people died, More people came and replaced the dead. We
stayed like that for months, and then when the mud
(15:59):
had dried and the temperatures lowered, they forced us to march.
What can I say to make you understand the devastation
to know that you are leaving the place where your
ancestors lived for thousands of years, To be forced to
(16:20):
leave behind the bones of your grandfathers and grandmothers, to
never again see good one the mother town, to leave
behind your home and possessions, beets and livestock, to have
it all given away by lottery to liars brutes, And
(16:44):
of course the pain of the march itself hundreds hundreds
of miles. It was the roughest on the young, the old,
and the sick. Babies were born and died, Aunties and
grand fathers carried until they could be carried no longer,
(17:04):
and then left by the side of the trail. And
the coldest winter anyone had seen in years. Supplies limited.
Disease spread, pneumonia, dysentery. The stench of sickness and death
(17:24):
has never left me. At least four thousand people died
on the trail, and there was nothing to be done
about it but walk and survive. We met at the
(17:46):
council house for the trial. There were one hundred of
us there. I was among the youngest. Three judges from
the clan of each trader were present, The defendants were not.
But what was the dispute. Didn't our laws say that
(18:09):
whoever sells Cherokee land without counsel approval should be put
to death. Weren't their signatures on the treaty? What was
to debate? What more evidence was needed? Had Major Rich
as he signed his mark on the Treaty of nu Echoda, said,
(18:31):
I've signed my death warrant? What more should we have done?
After the men were found guilty, a committee was appointed
to plan the executions. Numbers were put in a hat,
one for each person present. Twelve were marked with an
(18:55):
X executioner. The hat smelled of horses and sweat. My
hand shook as I pulled my lot, and my father
and I both pulled an axe. He looked at me
with sad eyes. And it'll be okay, he said. I
(19:17):
tried to say, but my mouth had gone dry. In
the very early morning of June twenty two, eighteen thirty nine,
three separate groups of Cherokees rode out to assassinate Elias
Budnot Major Ridge and his son John Ridge. A group
(19:43):
of about thirty rode out to Park Hill and hid
in the trees near the house that Budnut was building.
Two members of the group Budenot for medicine. It was
his job to dispense it to the people in the
(20:05):
area as they want to get it. One of the
men stamped him in the back, and the other split
his skull open with a tomahawk. Another group ambushed Major
Ridge near white Rock Creek. Five bullets entered his body
(20:30):
and he fell face down into the creek. Our group
arrived at John Ridges, just before dawn. I wanted to
go inside, but my father told me to stay on
my horse. He and three others crept quietly into the bedroom.
(20:55):
One of the men had a gun. Justice would be quick.
Those of us outside waited to hear the blast and
to write off, but minutes passed and nothing had happened.
I dismounted and walked towards the house. Before i'd taken
(21:16):
six steps, John Wedge's body flew out the front door
and landed hard in the dirt in front of me.
Only he wasn't dead. He tried to get up, but
my father ran out the door and tackled him and
me both. I grabbed one of John's legs and held
(21:38):
on as tight as I could. I could hear John's
wife screaming from the house. Then two shadows flitted past
me and pushed her back inside. I could still hear
her pleased, but they meant nothing to me. All of
my energy was devoted to holding on to his leg.
Bridge was talking, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.
(22:02):
My dad had started war whooping. Maybe he remembered how
persuasive John Ridge could be. Maybe he didn't want to
hear the screams of pain. He motioned for the rest
of us to join in. I tried, but I couldn't.
The others had now surrounded us and were circling him,
(22:23):
jumping and yelling. Others were helping hold him down now
and there was a high pitched scream that split through
the whooping, and the leg went still. Then I opened
my eyes. A knife was lodged in his heart. I
(22:52):
slowly got up and dust myself off. My dad helped
me back on my horse. I was woozy from the
effort of holding on, and we rode off. Justice had
been served. I'm anxious to complete my journey. Are you
(23:16):
satisfied now? Well, I don't care if you are. You
wanted a blood story, and you got one. I didn't
leave anything out, and if I did, it's because I'm
old and that was a long time ago. Why are
(23:39):
you looking at my hand again? I told you. I
grabbed his leg, I held it down. I wasn't even
supposed to do that. I was supposed to stay on
my horse, but Dad was in there too long and
(24:00):
I thought something might have happened. So I got off
and walked toward the house. And that's when I got
knocked down, and that's when I held onto bridges legs
so he couldn't kick anyone or get up. Stop looking
at my hand. There's nothing on it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Blood.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Oh, this is a little cut, and I remember now
what it's from. I forgot. I was holding one leg,
but his other leg had gotten free and he must
have kicked the knife out of someone's hand. I picked
(24:48):
it up without thinking and gave it back, but I
accidentally grabbed it by the blade and it must have
cut me. So that explains the blood. Now we can
go have your story. I'm ready to move on. Stop
looking at me like that. But there shouldn't be this
(25:09):
much blood. Why is there blood on my shirt? It
really was only a small cut, and my whole arm
is wet. Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it,
(25:32):
but I was trying to give the knife back. But
I feel in the knife and the knife went into
his gut and I heard him scream like I heard
so many others scream and wail and cry. He gave
(25:54):
away our lands. He gave away our lands. So I
stabbed him again and again and then again, at one
for each sacred place he threw away in the name
of their God and their power. But he still cried.
So I stabbed him and the throne and his blood
went everywhere, and I kept stabby until someone pulled me
(26:17):
off him, and I yelled my war cry, and as
one we picked up his dead body high above our heads,
and we held him up, and without anyone saying so,
(26:38):
we threw him down on the ground and stomped on him,
one stomp for each of the one million steps we
took away from our home. When we were done, we
mounted up and rode to Joseph Lynch's place. He'd prepare
(27:02):
a feast from a beef he'd harvested in preparation for
our arrival. My father rode ahead of me and didn't
look back. When we got to the farm, I ate
till I was full, and after a while I walked
(27:22):
over to the shade of a large tuniper tree and
I threw up that's it. That's the story. Are you
satisfied now?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
I am.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Now you understand why we did what we did. Can
you tell me that I acted wrongly?
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It is not my way to judge.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
In my last years back in our homeland East, I
think back on the treaty party especially Major Ridge, Warrior
statesman Trader, and his son John. I remember John Ridge's
words in the Cherokee newspaper before removal. He said, you
(28:31):
asked us to throw off the hunter and warrior state.
We did so. You asked us to form a republican government.
We did so, adopting your own as a model. You
asked us to cultivate the earth and learn the mechanic arts.
(28:56):
We did so. You asked us to learn to read.
We did so. You asked us to cast away our
idols and worship your God. We did so, and he
was right. We did so. And what was it for?
(29:18):
The white man has severed his relationship with his soul,
and he is at war with himself. His soul calls
to him from this side, but he can't hear. This
is how he became the oppressor of the earth, always
(29:38):
taking more and more and unsated hunger. This is the
only way he could allow himself to commit these unspeakable
horrors against us and the earth. Madness cannot negotiate with madness,
(30:04):
you cannot defend against it. The invisible weapon of the
white man. His madness spreads like a curse, his savagery
and bloodluss spread. His fear becomes your fear. His self
loathing becomes your self loathing. His savagery becomes your savagery.
(30:28):
His hatred and rage get lodged in your heart like
pellets and powder. The more we tried diplomacy with the
white Man, the more our own madness grew, until we
were also at more with ourselves. It is said that
(31:03):
we are not allowed to journey on to the next
level until we learn particular lessons in this one. If
that is true, then the thing I have learned is this.
There was nothing that the Treaty Party or the Ross
Party could have done to prevent our tragedy. There is
(31:28):
no cure for the white man's selfishness and greed. There
is no medicine for this madness. But one day this
madness will destroy him, and when there is nothing of
earth left to devour, he will devour himself. I hope
(31:50):
the great Spirit lets me see it. Until then I
will wait here.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
In the land of the dead. Through the dog on high.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
So he passes westward. The justice he sought was small,
but together with a million other drops, it helps the
tide to rise more injustice will be done on this
soil by Jackson and a thousand men after him, in
(32:38):
the name of a mad god. This hard culling is
far from over. Countless women, men and children, elderly and
infants will be massacred. I will pass over this land
again and again, then again and again, walking with these men, women, children,
(32:59):
taking long before their time, and will carry their stories
with me long after they have crossed the threshold to
the next beyond. These souls plucked from life too early,
are the heaviest. They weigh on the people on the
land itself. They leave their whispers and the wind, and
(33:20):
wear grooves and the stone as they make their passage.
(33:54):
The Passage stars Dan Fogler as the Ferryman.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
This episode features Wes Study as Uyetat.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Written by Michael Owel with additional writing by Dan Bush
and Nicholas Dakoski. Our executive producers are Nicholas Dakoski, Matthew Frederick,
and Alexander Williams. First Assistant director, script's supervisor and production
coordinator Sarah Klein. Music by Ben Lovett, additional music by
Alexander Rodriguez. Casting by Sunday Bowling Kennedy and Meg Mormon.
(34:22):
Editing and sound designed by Dan Bush, dialogue editing and
sound mixing by Jan Campos. Additional sound editing by Racket Sound.
Our supervising producer is Josh Than.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Created by Dan Bush and Nicholas Dakoski. Produced by Dan Bush.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
The Passage is a production of iHeartRadio and Cycopia Pictures
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.