Thompson v. Oklahoma

The Trail of Tears Introduction The Trail of Tears was a 1000-2000 mile journey that five tribes had to walk in order to get to their designated land that Andrew Jackson called “Indian Territory.” The Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, were forced out of their homelands, not given any other option but to leave, or be killed trying to stay in their home where you made memories with families and friends. The trail was where thousands of people died from horrible sicknesses,…

In chapter nine of Main Street Oklahoma: Stories of twentieth Century America, the chapter explains the many economic efforts that were put in to assisting the Five Tribes during the Great Depression. The Office of Indian Affairs implemented many programs designed to assist and provide jobs to Native American men and women, but the Office of Indian Affairs ended up not adequately addressing the needs of Native Americans under while under their control, but it also showed the poor and serious…

“I Grew Up Here” Boley is a town in Okfuskee County. Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,184 at the 2010 census, a gain of 5.2 percent from 1,126 in 2000. Boley was established in 1903 as a predominantly Black pioneer town with Native American ancestry among its citizens. The Boley Public School District is one of the smallest public school districts in the state of Oklahoma. For the most recent data available, it tied with Sweetwater for the smallest high school with 15 students.…

trying to decide whether or not to sit down to watch Oklahoma, allow me to make your mind up for you. Grab some popcorn, a cold drink, and prepare yourself for an enticing musical. This musical connects with many of its viewers on many different levels, not only with the dialogue but with the musical pieces that were chosen. Allow your mind to wander back to the early 1900’s, on a farm in Oklahoma, where the magic begins to happen. Oklahoma starts off with Gordon McRae playing the role of…

“Cherokee blood, if not destroyed, will win it’s course in beings of fair complexions, who will read that their ancestors became civilized under the frowns of misfortune, and the causes of their enemies.” This quote is a prime example of the hardships that the Cherokees had to endure and live with. The Cherokees are of Iroquoian decent and they are one of the five tribes that had settled in Southeast America. They were known as being the most culturally and socially advanced in the 19th century…

brought together Native Americans and Europeans vary greatly, from land expeditions and missionary excursions to military conquests (Haag & Willis, 2001). After much resistance to the European way of life many Choctaws were relocated to present-day Oklahoma. The Choctaws that…

Melissa Wong
March 11, 2015
Andrew Forrester
DISC 1313
 Escaping Heartland America
 Pawhuska, Oklahoma, a town of a little less than four thousand people, is where Tracy Lett’s play turned movie August: Osage County is set. Beverly Weston, the patriarch and a heavy alcoholic, has disappeared and eventually commits suicide, leaving behind his psychotic wife, Violet, in the care of a newly hired caretaker, a Native American named Johnna. After their father’s disappearance, Beverly’s adult…

Captivity Narratives have been of particular interest to the American people for hundreds of years. These narratives are often considered to be the “first literature” of the American people and were originally "Anglo [based] accounts of captivity among the Indians", but quickly expanded to cover all individuals forced into captivity (Vanderbeets 548; Luders-Manuel 1). Two of the most famous captivity narratives that were ever written are those of Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano. These two…

The healthy options at many universities are not always the best selection. To be more specific, here at the University of Oklahoma, the choices are very limited. Oklahoma is ranked number 6 in the Adult Obesity Rate, and it all starts with eating habits learned in early years all the way to up college years (“Adult Obesity in the United States” 1). The university has made it more convenient for students on a meal plan to eat fast food, instead of a healthier option or that the healthy option is…

abolish Indian mascots on sports teams. The 1970 abolishment of “Little Red”, the OU Indian mascot sparked a chain of Indian mascots that have been banned in sports since then (Tramel, 2002). The once mascot for OU, “Little Red”, represented the Oklahoma Sooners for many years before being abolished from the University after students spoke up about the demeaning messages that the mascot embodied. The presence of Native Americans on the University of Oklahoma’s campus began around 1908 when the…