The flower most commonly known as the Cherokee Rose (rosa laevigata) has white petals with a large golden center and thorny stems. A hearty plant, it generally blooms in the early spring, but it has been known to undergo a second flowering in the fall of the same year. Most geographically abundant in the Carolinas and northern Georgia, spreading west toward Oklahoma, along the route of the infamous Trail of Tears, the legend of the Cherokee Rose conveys the sorrow and hardship of the Cherokees who were dispossessed of their lands in the East.
According to the Indian Removal Act in 1830, signed by President Andrew Jackson, the United States government promised to provide Native Americans lands in the West. This was to be in exchange for their eastern tribal lands where white settlers were anxious to settle, in part because of the discovery of gold. Despite several legal cases contesting their removal and a ruling by the United States Supreme Court in favor of the Cherokees, the resettlement process moving the “Five Civilized Tribes”—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, and Seminole peoples—continued as planned. The United States government was required to fund the removal as part of the bargain, but when the removal began in the fall of 1838, the Cherokees were not provided with adequate food or blankets for the long winter trip. As a result, as many as one-quarter of the Cherokees who set out toward the Indian Territories died en route, many from disease, starvation, and exposure. Other Native American peoples who were removed suffered equally harsh conditions.
The hardships faced by the Cherokees spawned the story associated with the Cherokee Rose. According to legend, the tragedies the Cherokees faced along the Trail of Tears began to weigh heavily on the people, especially the women, many of whom had seen their children die along the way. The women began to lose hope, having suffered the loss of their home and their children. They felt beaten down and humiliated. Recognizing the need for strong women to help rebuild the Cherokee nation, the Elders turned to “the Great One,” looking for respite not only for themselves, but also for the women who had suffered so much. “The Great One” responded to the pleas of the Elders the next morning with the sign of the Cherokee Rose. As the people continued on their way west, the Elders looked back and saw that where the tears of the women had fallen, white roses had grown up. The women were told to look behind them, and upon seeing the flowers growing where their tears had fallen, the women felt empowered. They saw their own beauty and strength reflected in the lovely flowers whose hearty, thorny stems promised protection. With renewed strength, they could again care for their remaining children and walk proudly beside their men along the rest of the perilous journey.
The Cherokee Rose flower (rosa laevigata) is common across the Carolinas and Georgia, spreading west into Oklahoma. The legend of the flower is associated with Cherokee Indians who were forced to leave their homeland and move west along the Trail of Tears. Along the way, the story goes, tribal elders appealed to the Great One for help, and in response flowers grew along the path, giving hope and encouragement to the people during their time of struggle. (~intangible~/Dreamstime.com)
Since that time, the Cherokee Rose has been an emblem of the strength and beauty of Cherokee women. Tradition claims that the rose is white for the tears of the women and that the large gold center is symbolic of the white man’s hunger for gold. The seven leaves on the stem of the flower represent the seven Cherokee clans. The heartiness of the plant and its tendency to grow in large clumps demonstrates that it slowly reclaims some of the land that the Cherokees lost, and the thorns protect them from being moved away again.
W. Todd Martin
See also Great Spirit; Mary’s Flowers
Further Reading
Ehle, John. 1989. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. New York: Anchor Books.
Perdue, Theda, and Michael D. Green. 1995. The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford Books.
Rozema, Vicki. 2003. Voices from the Trail of Tears. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair.