The Trail of Tears was when the United States government forced Native Americans to move from their homelands in the Southern United States to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Peoples from the Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole tribes were marched at gunpoint across hundreds of miles to reservations.

The Trail of Tears has become the symbol in American history that signifies the callousness of American policy makers toward American Indians. Indian lands were held hostage by the states and the federal government, and Indians had to agree to removal to preserve their identity as tribes.

The Trail of Tears was a cruel act by the United States Federal Government and southerners that greatly impacted American History. The migration of the Cherokees opened prime land to southern cotton farmers, boosting cotton production and an increase of the American economy.

Terra Australis

Willem Janszoon

Aboriginal people can expect to die about 8 to 9 years earlier than non-Aboriginal Australians. On average, Aboriginal males live 71.6 years, 8.6 years less than their non-Aboriginal peers, women live 75.6 years, 7.8 years less.

An unprecedented DNA study has found evidence of a single human migration out of Africa and confirmed that Aboriginal Australians are the world’s oldest civilization.

Moreover, the effects of colonization, racism and intergenerational trauma on Indigenous peoples have contributed to their poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancies.

The Social Security Administration notes on its Web site that American Indians tend to have higher life expectancies at age 65 than most U.S. citizens. American Indian men who reached age 65 in 2005 can expect to live to age 84, compared to age 81 for all men.