North Carolina pair hikes Trail of Tears route

With their heavy backpacks, they look like just another couple hiking down America's highways.

But chief Lone Eagle Watkins and his wife, Earth Child, say they're following in their ancestors' footsteps in a 1,100-mile trek from Tennessee to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears, marking the forced relocation of 16,000 American Indians from their native land in the southeastern United States to Oklahoma. About 4,000 died of starvation, disease and other hardships along the route in the winter of 1838-1839.

For Watkins and his wife, the journey is not just a trip but a cause.

Watkins, a 57-year-old Vietnam War veteran, blacksmith and college professor from North Carolina, said the trip is a chance to promote the heritage of mixed-blood American Indians. Both he and his wife are part Cherokee.

Watkins said many American Indians have lost connection with their ancestry and feel a sense of loss.

"Native Americans are not historical figures," he said. "We are living, breathing persons who exist in the 21st century and face 21st century challenges."

But Watkins said American Indians, particularly mixed-bloods, shouldn't be ashamed of their heritage. "Everybody should be proud of who they are," said Watkins, who teaches at a community college in Dobson, N.C.

He and his wife hope to raise money to establish a museum in North Carolina to promote Indian culture.

Watkins is chief of the Metis Nation of America, which boasts about 1,500 members. Metis is the French word for mixed blood, he said.

"We give a home to people who don't have a home," his wife said.

"One of the reasons we are walking is to dispel stereotypes," she said.

American Indians of mixed blood don't all have black hair and wear buckskins, said Earth Child, who grew up in the Chicago area and has blonde hair and blue eyes.

Watkins and his wife began their journey on May 1 near Chattanooga, Tenn., and hope to arrive in Tahlequah, Okla., by mid-August.

"If you study the map too long, you will turn around and go home," he said as he and his wife rested at a roadside park along Route 146 about five miles west of Anna, Ill., on Monday morning. They planned to cross the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau before heading south to Arkansas and then across the state to Oklahoma.

They won't be visiting Trail of Tears State Park north of Cape Girardeau because they plan to follow a more southern route, one of several used in relocating Cherokee and other Indian tribes.

The couple have endured blistered feet and even tornadoes on their trek. Earth Child said they've been drenched by severe storms. "It was like being in a carwash," she said.

Along the way, strangers have befriended them, providing them with spending money, food and shelter.

Watkins said they began the journey with $200. They camp out a lot, depending on their one-burner propane camp stove and surviving on noodles and oatmeal. "I've lost 15 pounds," said the suntanned, bearded Watkins.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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