you hear people talk about being well,h other's throats, jack baker talked about that, we were quite literally at each other's throats, but john marshall and his decision might be the reason i exist, because who knows what would've happened to the cherokee people in my ancestors, but i certainly would not be here had it not been for that decision, which is a bedrock of federal indian law that stays with us today, so i am so honored to be here with you for that reason. of americanchapter history leading up to and including the trail of tears is something that this country ought to remember, and i think jack baker did a great job in talking and very personal terms and how it affected his family and other charities. we ought to remember that in this country. it was a time in the country where the governor of the united states thought it was a good idea to round people up into cages. that was not a good idea then, it is not a good idea today. but we ought to always take those lessons from our history. you think about what happened, greateates destruction that took place against the chero

i am pleased to introduce jack baker, where he represents the charity citizens residing outside of the cherokee nation. he is a national president of the trail of tears association. he is the current president of the oklahoma historical society and served on a number of other boards. he has done extensive research -- he has done extensive cherokee research for more than 50 years and has authored articles and edited several books on cherokee history. he continued his research even yesterday at the library of virginia, so it gives me pleasure to introduce jack baker. [applause] councilor baker: thanks, elizabeth. it is an honor to be part of this symposium. as a come before you citizen of the united states and also a citizen of the cherokee eighth and i an generation oklahoman because of the trail of tears. at the time of our forced removal, the cherokee's own forms and even plantations. -- cherokees owned farms and even plantations. as lindsay pointed out, the constitution adopted patterns ,ut of the united states, and as lindsay also stated, almost every family of the cherokee nation h

have been planning for 18 months, and particularly with the dedicated kinds of lindsey robinson, jack baker, kevin hearst,eld, jennifer and many others that i see her today. preservation virginia is very pleased to be partnering with the virginia museum of history and culture and we thank them for their participation and for hosting all of us here today. we are especially honored by the presence of our participants from the virginia tribal nation as well as representatives of the cherokee nation and poach creek who are also here today. i especially want to thank and acknowledge our symposium sponsors who helped make this possible. for more than a century now, preservation virginia has been the steward of the john marshall house. we have been tearing the house since 1911 and acquiring furnishings and artifacts that help us interpret the legacy of chief justice john marshall. this is the harsh where marshall lived for 45 years and provides insight into his life and work, not only as a well-known and significant american jurist, but as a family man, husband, father, engaged citizen of richmond