American history is full of tragic and controversial moments. The very formative years of the American nation, i. e. the first decades after the War of Independence, were marked by the young nation’s trying to defend its independence. However, the further development of the American state proved to be rather aggressive and destructive. Of course, the country itself developed, expanded, and gained international political authority, but the domestic policies the US government implemented were rather controversial. One of the most argued episodes in US history is the anti-Native policies that reached their peak during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The early 19th century was the time when American Indians were forcefully moved to the West of the country or killed by the US military. The book under consideration in this paper, “Mountain Windsong: A novel of the trail of tears” by Robert Conley depicts the events of those times showing the tragedy of the Indian people of the Cherokee tribe.
Thus, the major topic of the book by Robert Conley is the history of the Cherokee people to which he himself belongs. The very book presents the communication of two Indians, an aged Grandpa and his grandson LeRoy during which Grandpa tells the boy about all the misfortunes of their tribe back in the 19th century. What is also worth noticing is that the title of the book reflects one of its plotlines – namely the love story of the two Indian people, Oconeechee and Whippoorwill. Having heard the wind blowing like a song in the mountains, LeRoy asks Grandpa if he heard the same, and Grandpa puts his explanation of it in the historical context: “It’s the lovesong of Oconeechee and Whippoorwill.” (Conley Pg.6) Developing the story, Grandpa tells LeRoy about the governmental actions towards the Cherokee people, and explains that the Indians hesitated whether they should go to the West willingly or fight to death for their native lands. As for the motivations the US government had to kill Cherokees and want their resettlement to the West, Grandpa sees the reality as it is: “Well, It’s kind of hard to say…But mostly, I think, they just wanted all our land. I think that’s why they wanted to kick us out.” (Conley Pg.10 – 11) Further on, two plot lines are developed in the book – the love story of Oconeechee and Whippoorwill and the Indians’ removal to the West. The former turns out to be tragic as Whippoorwill dies after one of the battles, while the latter takes the form of genocide against the Indians: “I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the crudest work I ever knew.” (Conley Pg.81)
Drawing from all this data, it is rather difficult to single out some information of special interest as there is much in the book about the Cherokees that most people do not know. As for me, the fact that the Cherokee people had their own government was rather surprising. Moreover, they had towns where the authority was distributed between the people in charge of peace and war affairs of each town: “Each town had its own government, and they had two chiefs – a war chief and a piece chief.” (Conley Pg.8) As a result, the idea of democracy was not new for the Cherokees, and the book proves this idea: “They let each town have its own government with two chiefs and a council and advisor. They had democracy.” (Conley Pg.9) Speaking of the tribal customs, the Cherokees rejected the shaving their heads after the White people came and introduced their traditions into the Indian society, however, certain people remained loyal to the native Indian traditions: “The young men had all stopped the old practice of shaving their heads. They had their hair like white men, cut just below the ears or at the shoulders.” (Conley Pg.16) Finally, the Cherokee belief that the woman should find a man at once after she reaches the age of sexual maturity was also an unfamiliar fact about this Indian tribe: “Cherokees felt that something was wrong with a woman who remained a virgin too long after her body had matured.” (Conley Pg.15) However, this book is read as a part of the course of history and there are enough ground for this.
First of all, the book by Robert Conley is a well-documented research work, which combines scholarly data with the novel-like narration and a love story. The documents the author uses for his book are the primary sources including the treaties between the Cherokee tribe and the US government, the documented accounts of the contemporaries on the Cherokee removal process. The secondary scholarly sources used include the reputable historical works by such authors as Charles C. Royce (1887), etc. Thus, besides the ethnic and cultural information on Cherokees, the book presents a great amount of specific data on the ways in which the US government took control over the Cherokee lands. Among these ways, the “articles of a treaty concluded at New Echota in the State of Georgia on the 29th day of Decr. 1835 by General William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn commissioners on the part of the United States and the Chiefs Head Men and People of the Cherokee tribe of Indians” can be mentioned (Conley Pg.47). Also, April 24, 1802 agreement between Georgia and the USA is of great importance for the documenting of the book, and for the readers’ understanding of the events it depicts. Presenting both the Cherokee and the US government points of view, the author manages to create the objective picture of the historic events in question. If the pure literary value of the book is taken into consideration, it becomes evident why it is a history reading. Students obtain historical information through an interesting and involving reading; there is no need to make oneself study as the basic dates, events and names are memorized in the process of reading a fascinating novel.
So, the book by Robert Conley is a bright example of combining the historical and literary ideas in a single work provoking the interest of diverse groups of readers. As a reading in the history course, this book is also of great value as it provides considerable amounts of information about one of the most controversial and tragic episodes in US history – the period of the Indians’ removal from their native lands. Presenting the objective picture of the period, the author also praises the Cherokee traditions and customs, thus enlarging the students’ ethnographic knowledge as well.