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The Ohio Country Episode 8: Removals

Opening day for the Ohio River Valley Splash Pad in northeastern Oklahoma
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
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Contributed
Opening day for the Ohio River Valley Splash Pad in northeastern Oklahoma

United States President Andrew Jackson pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress in 1830, which resulted in the forced removal of tens of thousands of people in the southern and northern U.S., including Shawnee, Seneca-Cayuga, Ottawa, Wyandotte, and Miami communities from what we now call Ohio.

Additional resources

The removal and survival of Indigenous people is a much larger subject than this podcast, and we encourage you to delve into additional resources beyond this episode.

This map and timeline tool, created by the Wyandotte Nation and Dr. Rebecca Wingo's University of Cincinnati students, details the story of the Wyandotte's forced relocation and survival in depth.

“The Other Trail of Tears,” by Ohio historian Dr. Mary Stockwell, describes the removal process in Ohio that resulted in a chaotic and deadly experience for Shawnee, Miami, Wyandotte, and others.

“Tributaries, ” by Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma citizen and poet Laura Da’, recounts the suffering of her ancestors as they were marched west hundreds of miles and across the Mississippi River to Indian Territory, present-day Kansas. This poetry collection is a vivid account with a family perspective, indelibly told by a young Shawnee named “Lazarus Shale.”

"It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation."
Andrew Jackson

Watch the video below to see how the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma teaches their youngest citizens about their tribe's forced relocation to Oklahoma at their Ohio River Valley Splash Pad.

Neenah Ellis has been a radio producer most of her life. She began her career at a small commercial station in northern Indiana and later worked as a producer for National Public Radio in Washington, DC. She came to WYSO in 2009 and served as General Manager until she became the Executive Director of The Eichelberger Center for Community Voices where she works with her colleagues to train and support local producers and has a chance to be a radio producer again. She is also the author of a New York Times best-seller called “If I Live to Be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians.”
Chris Welter is the Managing Editor at The Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO. Chris got his start in radio in 2017 when he completed a six-month training at the Center for Community Voices. Most recently, he worked as a substitute host and the Environment Reporter at WYSO.