Another trip concept I’m formulating is related to my Native American roots. My mother was Choctaw Indian, my father is primarily Irish with some Chickasaw ancestry as well. I’m on the Choctaw tribal rolls and though mixed-blood have a keen sense of ancestral and historical awareness of my roots. I want to visit the path of my forefathers on the Trail of Tears path taken back in the 1830’s and also photograph other images of Native America I discover on my travels. I want to reinforce the reasons my mother felt so proud to be Choctaw...something I've only belatedly realized.

The Choctaw were the first of the tribes "removed" from their ancestral lands in Alabama and Mississippi to make way for white settlers and deposited in Oklahoma---Indian Territory at the time. Through unfortunate government mishandling and circumstance, out of the 12,500 Choctaw who traveled the path in 3 different marches, 2,500 died or were killed along the way. Parts of the journey were orchestrated in winter conditions with the tribe forced to walk, many without coats or even shoes. A Choctaw chief described it to a newspaper reporter at the time as "a trail of tears and death". This phrase was picked up later and associated with the removal of the Cherokee in 1838.

I believe this is an appropriate beginning to a photo journey through Native America. I'll work with the archives and administration people in my Choctaw tribal government to research points of particular interest and the actual route. From there I want to discover and photograph other places where this land's First People dwell, providing a small glimpse of Indian history, plight, and progress.

Land Flight: Reservation Roads--Images of Native America.