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THBCherokee Phoenix & Indians' Advocate, 1831, First American Indian Newspaper
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Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
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About Auction
LiveSep 8, 2017 - Sep 9, 2017
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- Lot Description
Cherokee Phoenix & Indians' Advocate. New Echota (GA): December 31, 1831. Vol. IV, No. 25. 4pp, 12.75 x 21.25 in. Newspaper title written in Cherokee syllabary above the English language version. Title encapsulates the emblem of the paper, a mythical phoenix rising, with the word "Protection" in a banner overhead. New Echota, home to the publishing office for the paper, was adopted by the Cherokee national legislature in 1825 as the capital of the Cherokee Nation and was a place of significance to the Cherokee people.
The Cherokee Phoenix, first published February 21,1828, was America's first American Indian newspaper and the first bilingual publication in America. In 1829 the newspaper name was amended to include & Indians' Advocate, which reflected the important role the paper would play in the burgeoning national discussion on Indian Removal. This edition of the paper exemplifies that role as the first page contains extracts from sources arguing both for and against the removal of American Indians to western lands, as well as references to the ongoing legal proceeding which would result in the landmark 1832 US Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia. The Cherokee Phoenix & Indians' Advocate ceased publication in 1834 just seven years after it started.
The Indian Removal Act was a law passed by Congress in order to facilitate the relocation of American Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands further west which would eventually be known as "Indian Territory." The Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, and did not actually order the removal of any American Indians. Rather, it authorized the President to negotiate land-exchange treaties with tribes living within the boundaries of existing US states. The passage of the Removal Act greatly accelerated the land-exchange process. The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the "Five Civilized Tribes." In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time and home to the Cherokee capital of Echota, was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee Nation. This rare newspaper voices the national debate over these difficult issues. In an "Extract from the Presidents Message" appearing on the front page of this edition, President Andrew Jackson states "At the last session I had the happiness to announce that the Chickasaws had accepted the generous offer of the Government, and agreed to remove beyond the Mississippi and the western part of Alabama will be freed from Indian occupancy, and opened to a civilized population. The Treaties with these tribes are in a course of execution, and their removal it is hoped will be completed in the course of 1832. At the request of the authorities of Georgia, the registration of Cherokee Indians for emigration has been resumed, and it is confidently expected that one half, if not two thirds of that tribe,will follow the wise example of their more westerly brethren..." Just two columns over on the front page, an alternative view is offered, "Do not all the reasons which have heretofore availed with the friends of the Indians, remain in full force? Is it not as true at this moment, as it was one year, or two years ago, that they have a right to the lands they occupy -- that the peaceable possession of those lands, has been guaranteed to them in numerous Treaties, to which the great Seal of the Nation is affixed? Is it not as true now as it was then, that the Indians are oppressed? ... Would it not be as calamitous now as it would have been then, for them to remove, with all their helpless and decrepid ones, a thousand miles into a barren wilderness?"
This edition of the paper was published while Elias Boudinot served as editor. Boudinot, born Gallegina Uwati, was from a prominent Cherokee family and was formally educated at a missionary school in Connecticut. Boudinot was selected by the General Council of the Cherokee Nation to run the paper along with the Reverend Samuel A. Worcester, a New England-born missionary who advocated for the Cherokee and had a background in printing. Together, these two men were able to raise the necessary funds to build the printing office, purchase supplies, and most significantly, cast the Cherokee syllabary necessary for printing the paper in Cherokee alongside the English type. The men, along with the leaders of the Cherokee Nation, viewed the paper as a vehicle for uniting a Cherokee people who were then spread across multiple states, and as a way to give a national voice to American Indian issues. Though less than 20% of the paper was typically printed in the Cherokee language, it still was revolutionary as a bilingual publication and in allowing the Cherokee to read news of the day in their own language for the first time.
Ultimately, a schism in the leadership of the Cherokee Nation over the future of the tribe resulted in Boudinot's resignation as editor in 1832. While initially a strong critic of Indian Removal, over time Boudinot became convinced that there was no future for the Cherokee Nation in the East and he advocated signing a treaty with the US government to give up the Cherokee lands. This reversal put him at odds with Cherokee Chief John Ross who continued to fight against removal, and upon Boudinot's resignation Chief Ross' brother-in-law Elijah Hicks was inserted as the new editor of the paper.
On the top left front page of the newspaper, the signature "Mis Sarah Kimball" appears. While we cannot definitively identify this individual, it is possible that she was an acquaintance of both Elias Boudinot and the Reverend Samuel Worcester through their mutual associations with the the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), a prominent 19th century Christian missionary organization. Worcester was a leading member of the ABCFM which initially sent him to evangelize American Indians in the southeastern United States. Elias Boudinot had attended the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, CT, which was founded by ABCFM as an educational institution for American Indian students. In numerous publications predating this paper including an Annual Report of the ABCFM, a Sarah Kimball of Concord, NH, is listed as a financial contributor to ABCFM missions.
Condition
Some toning. Creasing and small tears along top edge and right edge not affecting text.
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