1 00:00:01,802 --> 00:00:04,397 You have penned your animals on sacred ground. 2 00:00:04,471 --> 00:00:06,716 You walk up on the mountain and see some writing on an old stone 3 00:00:06,740 --> 00:00:09,005 and come down here and tell me I've to tear down my barn? 4 00:00:09,676 --> 00:00:14,512 I came here to tell you I'm sorry for what the whites did to the Indians. 5 00:00:16,350 --> 00:00:20,378 Before I met you, I didn't know anything about the Indians. 6 00:00:21,688 --> 00:00:26,126 I'd seen them in pictures in books scalping people and burning their houses. 7 00:00:30,898 --> 00:00:35,131 Daddy! Daddy! Wake up, everybody! The barn's on fire! 8 00:01:37,431 --> 00:01:41,061 Most of us tend to be convinced of the rightness of our heritage, 9 00:01:41,134 --> 00:01:43,626 our traditions, our way of life 10 00:01:43,704 --> 00:01:48,438 until some event happens that shakes our deepest beliefs to their foundations. 11 00:01:48,875 --> 00:01:52,869 On a da y in 1939, two strangers came to our mountain. 12 00:01:53,447 --> 00:01:55,143 A s a consequence of their visit, 13 00:01:55,215 --> 00:01:59,915 we were to learn that others ha d roots there which reached deeper than our own. 14 00:02:01,088 --> 00:02:03,990 I think she's sick, Daddy. She won't even get up to eat. 15 00:02:04,057 --> 00:02:08,392 - She hasn't been eating much lately, huh? - No. Not much of an appetite. 16 00:02:08,929 --> 00:02:12,491 Could be a touch of arthritis, honey. Maybe an infection. 17 00:02:12,599 --> 00:02:16,058 If she's not better by tomorrow, we'll call Doc Culler. 18 00:02:21,775 --> 00:02:23,767 Something I can do for you? 19 00:02:23,844 --> 00:02:25,710 We need a place to spend the night. 20 00:02:25,779 --> 00:02:27,042 Uh-huh. 21 00:02:27,114 --> 00:02:30,016 Any chance you'd let us sleep in your barn? 22 00:02:30,550 --> 00:02:33,179 - Where you folks from? - North Carolina. 23 00:02:33,854 --> 00:02:37,757 - Just passing through? - Oh, we'll be on our way in the morning. 24 00:02:40,193 --> 00:02:42,059 Make yourselves comfortable. 25 00:02:42,129 --> 00:02:45,361 - I'm Matthew Teskigi. - John Walton. 26 00:02:45,432 --> 00:02:48,698 - This is my grandfather, Joseph Teskigi. - Nice to meet you. 27 00:02:51,438 --> 00:02:53,270 This is my daughter, Elizabeth. 28 00:02:53,340 --> 00:02:56,708 - Are you really an Indian? - Really. 29 00:03:14,327 --> 00:03:17,354 Something's wrong with her. Her name's Myrtle. 30 00:03:18,165 --> 00:03:19,565 Could be bloat. 31 00:03:19,633 --> 00:03:21,795 That's what I thought, but there's no swelling. 32 00:03:21,868 --> 00:03:23,928 It doesn't always show. 33 00:03:24,004 --> 00:03:26,132 Think you can make her well again, sir? 34 00:03:26,206 --> 00:03:27,606 We will try. 35 00:03:28,709 --> 00:03:31,702 Daddy? Elizabeth? Mama says supper's ready. 36 00:03:32,446 --> 00:03:34,074 We'll be right in, son. 37 00:03:34,147 --> 00:03:38,209 - Daddy, could we invite them to supper? - I guess we can handle that. 38 00:03:38,285 --> 00:03:40,550 You men like to have supper with us? 39 00:03:40,620 --> 00:03:44,182 Oh, we have our own food. We don't want to be any bother. 40 00:04:01,108 --> 00:04:02,599 We know you have your own food, 41 00:04:02,676 --> 00:04:05,407 but Mama thought you might like something warm. 42 00:04:05,479 --> 00:04:09,644 You did not have to do it, but thank you just the same. 43 00:04:11,384 --> 00:04:15,412 Why don't you bring the grain sack over here? We can use it like a table. 44 00:04:26,867 --> 00:04:30,827 Great, honored spirit, giver of all life, 45 00:04:31,338 --> 00:04:36,038 thank you for this nourishment and for kind friends. 46 00:04:36,977 --> 00:04:38,104 Amen. 47 00:04:46,353 --> 00:04:48,185 It's a pretty cup. 48 00:04:48,255 --> 00:04:53,922 I had this since I was six. Made and given to me by my mother. 49 00:04:55,195 --> 00:04:57,323 That's me there. 50 00:04:57,397 --> 00:04:59,298 It must be awfully old. 51 00:05:00,033 --> 00:05:04,801 I never did care for goat's milk, which was all we had to drink. 52 00:05:05,672 --> 00:05:09,905 To get me to drink it, my mother made me this special cup. 53 00:05:10,877 --> 00:05:14,177 She told me if I did not drink the milk, 54 00:05:15,315 --> 00:05:21,880 I would always stay this size and never grow as tall as my father. 55 00:05:22,088 --> 00:05:23,613 Was your father tall? 56 00:05:23,690 --> 00:05:30,221 I was told he was. I never really saw him. He died when I was a baby. 57 00:05:32,232 --> 00:05:34,360 Have you been sleeping out on the ground? 58 00:05:34,434 --> 00:05:39,099 Yes, but I'd rather have a nice soft bed. Grandfather says I'm soft. 59 00:05:39,172 --> 00:05:41,664 Even at home he always sleeps on the floor. 60 00:05:41,741 --> 00:05:44,370 The old ways are healthier. 61 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,473 You know much about the old ways? 62 00:05:52,052 --> 00:05:54,988 Do you think you could get Myrtle better again? 63 00:05:55,055 --> 00:05:57,388 I'm not sure. I can try. 64 00:05:59,426 --> 00:06:03,830 - What you need is goldenseal. - I know where there's some. 65 00:06:03,897 --> 00:06:06,298 We'll look for it in the morning. 66 00:06:17,944 --> 00:06:19,105 Good night, everybody. 67 00:06:19,179 --> 00:06:21,546 - Where are you off to? - The Dew Drop Inn. 68 00:06:21,615 --> 00:06:24,141 - Oh, yes. Well, give my love to Thelma. - All right. 69 00:06:29,356 --> 00:06:33,623 Hey. I thought you said them Indians was over there in the barn. 70 00:06:35,595 --> 00:06:37,621 I thought they were. 71 00:06:42,435 --> 00:06:44,233 Everything all right? 72 00:06:44,471 --> 00:06:46,463 My grandfather just wanted to look around. 73 00:06:46,539 --> 00:06:49,168 Why don't you come up and sit a while? 74 00:06:56,016 --> 00:06:58,383 Ben, move on down there, will you, son? 75 00:06:58,451 --> 00:07:02,320 This is my father. This is Mr. Teskigi. Mr. Walton. My son, Ben. 76 00:07:02,389 --> 00:07:04,551 - Good evening. - Have a seat, Mr. Teskigi. 77 00:07:04,624 --> 00:07:06,092 And this is his grandson, Matthew. 78 00:07:06,159 --> 00:07:07,491 - Matthew. - Hi. 79 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,324 - Hi. - Hi. 80 00:07:11,798 --> 00:07:14,461 Have you seen our farm, Mr. Teskigi? 81 00:07:14,534 --> 00:07:16,867 GRANDFATHER JOSEPH: It is good land. 82 00:07:16,937 --> 00:07:19,168 Are you a farmer, Mr. Teskigi? 83 00:07:19,506 --> 00:07:23,967 I have a very small farm. We are poor people. 84 00:07:25,011 --> 00:07:26,775 We know something about that around here. 85 00:07:26,846 --> 00:07:30,408 Mmm. You are of the Cherokee tribe, hmm? 86 00:07:31,851 --> 00:07:33,046 I am. 87 00:07:33,119 --> 00:07:36,317 Oh, the Cherokees once lived all over the Appalachians 88 00:07:36,389 --> 00:07:38,415 and they were driven west. 89 00:07:39,459 --> 00:07:42,554 I've always heard the Cherokees were great hunters. 90 00:07:42,629 --> 00:07:44,598 Do you ever use a bow and arrow? 91 00:07:44,664 --> 00:07:46,792 Grandfather taught me when I was a little boy. 92 00:07:46,866 --> 00:07:49,734 - Did you ever hit anything? - The side of our barn. 93 00:07:51,371 --> 00:07:56,105 Our people were good hunters. They were also very intelligent. 94 00:07:56,910 --> 00:08:01,473 They were the first Indians to have a written alphabet. 95 00:08:02,115 --> 00:08:05,711 A great leader named Sequoya invented it. 96 00:08:05,785 --> 00:08:08,118 Sounds like those big trees they have out in California. 97 00:08:08,188 --> 00:08:12,990 - They were named in his honor. - Sequoia giganteum. 98 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:18,721 And I read that in 1827 the Cherokees published a newspaper. 99 00:08:19,199 --> 00:08:21,065 We did that last year. 100 00:08:21,901 --> 00:08:25,702 You and your grandson have come a long way. Must be a reason. 101 00:08:26,740 --> 00:08:29,437 I was born in this part of the country. 102 00:08:29,876 --> 00:08:35,474 I have good reason to believe our sacred burial ground is on the mountain. 103 00:08:36,816 --> 00:08:37,909 How you gonna find it? 104 00:08:37,984 --> 00:08:42,513 My people left directions on a great stone. 105 00:08:42,889 --> 00:08:46,758 - Do you know where the stone is? - Somewhere in the mountains. 106 00:08:47,293 --> 00:08:48,784 How are you gonna find it? 107 00:08:48,862 --> 00:08:52,765 There is a scar on the mountainside shaped like an arrow. 108 00:08:53,299 --> 00:08:58,761 Framed between two pines, it points the way to a circle of stones. 109 00:08:58,838 --> 00:09:02,206 There is written the way to the burial ground. 110 00:09:04,177 --> 00:09:05,839 Indian Rock. 111 00:09:06,146 --> 00:09:09,583 - Is it far from here? - Not far. Not far at all. 112 00:09:09,649 --> 00:09:13,142 - Just up the side of our mountain. - Will you show it to us? 113 00:09:13,219 --> 00:09:15,552 Would be glad to in the morning when it's light. 114 00:09:15,622 --> 00:09:18,057 I thought you said we were gonna go look for the goldenseal. 115 00:09:18,124 --> 00:09:20,889 If you made a promise, keep it. 116 00:09:21,361 --> 00:09:24,729 You go with the child and I'll go up to the mountain. 117 00:09:26,299 --> 00:09:30,930 I will see you all in the morning, sir. Good night to all. 118 00:09:31,104 --> 00:09:32,629 Good night. 119 00:09:44,717 --> 00:09:46,743 Slow down, young man. 120 00:09:46,820 --> 00:09:48,379 Been a long time 121 00:09:48,455 --> 00:09:50,947 since anybody said anything like that to me. 122 00:09:51,024 --> 00:09:53,960 I'm old enough to be your father. 123 00:09:54,027 --> 00:09:57,327 - Have a little respect for age. - Yes, sir. 124 00:09:57,397 --> 00:10:00,333 Any of this land around here familiar to you? 125 00:10:00,633 --> 00:10:04,297 I was an infant when our people left here, 126 00:10:04,938 --> 00:10:09,000 but I was told that the land gave of itself... 127 00:10:09,342 --> 00:10:12,244 - Yes. - And that game was plentiful. 128 00:10:12,312 --> 00:10:15,510 Yes, there's still plenty of game all around here. 129 00:10:16,116 --> 00:10:20,611 Well, we've lived through a war and the Depression by living off the land. 130 00:10:26,459 --> 00:10:30,760 - You have had many wives? - Only one. And you? 131 00:10:34,300 --> 00:10:38,465 Oh, I have outlived four wives. 132 00:10:38,538 --> 00:10:40,734 Let's rest. 133 00:10:48,748 --> 00:10:52,708 The first I married when I was 17. 134 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:55,484 It was an adventure. 135 00:10:56,923 --> 00:11:00,155 Since we did not marry in our own tribe, 136 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:05,692 it was arranged that I was supposed to marry a girl in another reservation. 137 00:11:07,033 --> 00:11:10,526 Only twice did I leave the reservation. 138 00:11:11,871 --> 00:11:17,469 This time, now, and that other time when I went to take my bride. 139 00:11:19,279 --> 00:11:22,579 Facing marriage is frightening enough, 140 00:11:23,016 --> 00:11:28,683 but it didn't help when, at that same time, I had to face the outside world. 141 00:11:28,988 --> 00:11:31,548 I was brave when I left home. 142 00:11:32,158 --> 00:11:37,893 But on the way, I came to the first city I have ever seen. 143 00:11:39,098 --> 00:11:41,499 I remember seeing a young couple. 144 00:11:42,135 --> 00:11:48,371 The girl was looking adoringly at the man who wore his hair short. 145 00:11:49,175 --> 00:11:52,771 My hair fell past my shoulders. 146 00:11:52,845 --> 00:11:57,977 It struck me that if I wore my hair as short as his 147 00:11:59,419 --> 00:12:01,547 that my intended bride 148 00:12:02,922 --> 00:12:06,757 could look at me with the same favorable look. 149 00:12:06,826 --> 00:12:08,021 Adoration. 150 00:12:10,163 --> 00:12:13,395 The first barber turned me away 151 00:12:13,466 --> 00:12:17,369 saying that they served whites only. 152 00:12:17,971 --> 00:12:24,810 The second, a shop run by a negro, took me in and cut my hair. 153 00:12:25,812 --> 00:12:30,250 When I got to the reservation where my intended wife waited, 154 00:12:30,316 --> 00:12:35,721 all the men in the family laughed and said that I didn't look like a real Indian. 155 00:12:37,323 --> 00:12:40,816 I thought I'd lost the young woman's hand, 156 00:12:42,362 --> 00:12:46,060 but when she came closer and noticed the scent in the lotion 157 00:12:46,132 --> 00:12:51,036 that the barber had put on my hair, she found it to her liking. 158 00:12:51,704 --> 00:12:55,903 To this day, instead of bear grease, 159 00:12:57,277 --> 00:13:02,682 I dress my hair with a potion called witch hazel. 160 00:13:02,982 --> 00:13:06,783 Witch hazel, I know it well. 161 00:13:13,726 --> 00:13:15,752 - Find some? - Not it. 162 00:13:22,235 --> 00:13:25,694 - Do you live in a tepee? - No, I live in a house. 163 00:13:26,539 --> 00:13:29,668 - Like ours? - Not as big. Not as nice. 164 00:13:32,245 --> 00:13:34,146 Where is it? 165 00:13:34,447 --> 00:13:37,349 On a reservation in North Carolina. 166 00:13:46,826 --> 00:13:48,260 What's that? 167 00:13:48,828 --> 00:13:51,229 Probably someone kin to me made this. 168 00:13:51,297 --> 00:13:53,232 When my people still owned all the land, 169 00:13:53,299 --> 00:13:57,031 we were free to hunt and fish and live however we wanted to. 170 00:13:57,603 --> 00:14:01,165 - Can't you still? - As long as we stay on the reservation. 171 00:14:05,712 --> 00:14:08,147 Well, we're almost there. 172 00:14:09,982 --> 00:14:13,714 The Indian Rock. I hope you won't be too disappointed. 173 00:14:14,287 --> 00:14:18,452 I've lived here all my life and I've never seen an Indian burial ground. 174 00:14:18,524 --> 00:14:21,585 I have faith in our tribal legends. 175 00:14:23,596 --> 00:14:27,328 I would like to go on alone. 176 00:15:40,173 --> 00:15:42,199 She doesn't seem to be getting any better. 177 00:15:42,275 --> 00:15:45,177 I agree with you, Elizabeth. No, she don't. 178 00:15:45,278 --> 00:15:48,680 - We couldn't find the goldenseal. - Goldenseal? There's a lot of it. 179 00:15:48,748 --> 00:15:51,650 There's a big patch of it right halfway up the mountain. 180 00:15:51,717 --> 00:15:54,710 - Elizabeth knows where it is. - Someone dug it all up. 181 00:15:54,787 --> 00:15:57,052 Well, that was a dumb thing to do as you might say. 182 00:16:22,849 --> 00:16:25,409 I have found our burial ground. 183 00:16:25,918 --> 00:16:27,409 Where is it? 184 00:16:28,488 --> 00:16:30,889 It is here under your barn. 185 00:16:31,824 --> 00:16:34,953 - Is that so? - Grandfather, are you sure? 186 00:16:36,429 --> 00:16:39,331 You mean there are people underneath our barn, dead people? 187 00:16:39,398 --> 00:16:41,367 My ancestors. 188 00:16:41,434 --> 00:16:44,097 The writing on the stone leaves no question. 189 00:16:44,170 --> 00:16:48,631 Well, now that puts us in sort of an awkward position, don't it, John? 190 00:16:49,141 --> 00:16:51,508 This building must be torn down. 191 00:16:51,577 --> 00:16:54,411 - Oh, now, come on. - It must be done. 192 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,211 You have penned your animals on sacred ground. 193 00:16:57,283 --> 00:17:00,913 - The ground has been desecrated. - Now, wait just a minute. 194 00:17:01,354 --> 00:17:03,732 You walk up on the mountain and see some writing on an old stone 195 00:17:03,756 --> 00:17:06,089 and come down here and tell me I've to tear down my barn? 196 00:17:06,158 --> 00:17:07,592 Like hell I will! 197 00:17:07,660 --> 00:17:11,028 - The ground must be purified. - Now, you listen to me. 198 00:17:11,163 --> 00:17:14,327 I'm not gonna tear down this barn for you or anybody else. 199 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:15,959 This is crazy. 200 00:17:16,035 --> 00:17:18,231 There was nothing on this land when my pa came here. 201 00:17:18,304 --> 00:17:22,207 - There was a burial ground here. - How was he supposed to know that? 202 00:17:22,275 --> 00:17:24,938 There was no cemetery here, no tombstones, no grave! 203 00:17:25,011 --> 00:17:27,810 Take it easy, John. We can work things out some way. 204 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,577 - We can tear down this barn. - No. 205 00:17:31,083 --> 00:17:32,915 - Yes! - No! 206 00:17:32,985 --> 00:17:35,477 Then we will find another way. 207 00:17:35,555 --> 00:17:37,581 Now, listen here, I told you two you could stay, 208 00:17:37,657 --> 00:17:40,422 but I've changed my mind. I want you to leave. 209 00:17:40,493 --> 00:17:43,224 He's right, Grandfather. We should go. 210 00:17:43,896 --> 00:17:47,025 - John, I think you're being too hasty. - I'm not being hasty, Pa. 211 00:17:47,099 --> 00:17:48,659 This barn's as much yours as it's mine. 212 00:17:48,734 --> 00:17:51,260 You put it up plank by plank. You wanna see it torn down? 213 00:17:51,337 --> 00:17:53,081 - Daddy, listen to Grandpa. - Let's go home, Grandfather. 214 00:17:53,105 --> 00:17:57,600 No. No. Let us sit down and talk over this thing until we find a solution. 215 00:17:58,644 --> 00:18:02,137 - We can tear down the barn. - I told you to leave! 216 00:18:03,249 --> 00:18:05,548 Come on, Grandfather, let's go. 217 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:09,821 John, we ought to look into what he's saying. 218 00:18:09,889 --> 00:18:11,600 Look into what, Pa? He's not willing to talk. 219 00:18:11,624 --> 00:18:13,068 He doesn't wanna sit down and talk about this. 220 00:18:13,092 --> 00:18:14,803 When I first built here, there was nothing here 221 00:18:14,827 --> 00:18:17,105 - but maybe a pile of rocks. - All he wants to do is tear it down, Pa. 222 00:18:17,129 --> 00:18:18,206 There's no use talking to him. 223 00:18:18,230 --> 00:18:20,631 I know. We could listen to what he says anyway... 224 00:18:28,541 --> 00:18:30,786 Grandpa, isn't there something we could do for him? 225 00:18:30,810 --> 00:18:33,712 What are we supposed to do? Tear down the barn? 226 00:18:33,779 --> 00:18:35,824 There's probably a whole bunch of old bones under it. 227 00:18:35,848 --> 00:18:39,341 Jim-Bob, don't talk about bones. This thing is creepy enough as it is. 228 00:18:39,418 --> 00:18:41,410 Is the land really theirs, Grandpa? 229 00:18:41,487 --> 00:18:44,286 The land was theirs once. Now it's ours. 230 00:18:46,258 --> 00:18:48,591 - Well, who says it's ours? - I do. 231 00:18:50,196 --> 00:18:52,427 Elizabeth, that's a big question. 232 00:18:52,498 --> 00:18:56,026 People been trying to answer that for hundreds of years. 233 00:18:56,602 --> 00:18:58,468 There's probably a million ghosts out there. 234 00:18:58,537 --> 00:19:00,665 They all come out at night and do a war dance. 235 00:19:02,975 --> 00:19:05,672 Jim-Bob, sometimes you are so juvenile. 236 00:19:06,112 --> 00:19:07,603 Yeah, I guess. 237 00:19:08,047 --> 00:19:09,709 Let's put it this way, Elizabeth. 238 00:19:09,782 --> 00:19:13,082 Suppose some people with different colored skins is to come here and say 239 00:19:13,152 --> 00:19:16,589 they wanted our place and told us to get off of it? 240 00:19:16,656 --> 00:19:19,854 - Could they do that? - But that's never gonna happen. 241 00:19:19,925 --> 00:19:22,520 Daddy, that's what we did to the Indians. 242 00:19:22,595 --> 00:19:25,588 This is our land and it's gonna stay our land. 243 00:19:28,067 --> 00:19:31,526 It's been a long day. Now, come on, off to bed. Come on. 244 00:19:32,238 --> 00:19:34,002 - Good night, honey. - Good night. 245 00:19:34,073 --> 00:19:36,372 - Good night. - Good night. 246 00:20:05,004 --> 00:20:09,442 John, I had a long walk with that old man this morning 247 00:20:09,508 --> 00:20:11,602 and I think I know what's in his heart. 248 00:20:11,677 --> 00:20:14,044 Tearing down our barn is what's in his heart. 249 00:20:14,113 --> 00:20:17,914 Well, maybe, but I think I know what's most important to him. 250 00:20:18,317 --> 00:20:21,754 He wants to know that when he crosses over into eternity 251 00:20:21,821 --> 00:20:24,484 that he can be buried where his people are. 252 00:20:24,557 --> 00:20:26,788 I know that feeling real well. 253 00:20:27,026 --> 00:20:30,895 I wanna be buried right up here on Walton's Mountain. 254 00:20:30,963 --> 00:20:35,958 Only I'm a lot younger than he is, and will last longer maybe. 255 00:20:39,004 --> 00:20:41,030 I understand all that, Pa. 256 00:20:42,208 --> 00:20:44,268 You say you want our barn torn down? 257 00:20:44,343 --> 00:20:48,906 No, I'm just saying it takes one old man to understand another old man. 258 00:20:50,850 --> 00:20:52,876 Pa, we usually we see eye to eye on most things. 259 00:20:52,952 --> 00:20:55,319 How come we're on the opposite sides of the fence in this? 260 00:20:55,387 --> 00:20:59,950 Yeah, it's just so sad. Just think, all they've lost. 261 00:21:01,093 --> 00:21:04,825 - We weren't the ones that did it. - Weren't we? 262 00:21:07,933 --> 00:21:10,061 You can't turn back history. 263 00:21:25,084 --> 00:21:28,179 Always the white man has shamed us. 264 00:21:28,254 --> 00:21:32,783 - The Waltons were nice to us. - Don't be so quick to excuse them. 265 00:21:32,858 --> 00:21:37,159 These are your ancestors sleeping under cow dung. 266 00:21:38,097 --> 00:21:44,059 If the white man hadn't come, this land would've been all yours now, 267 00:21:44,804 --> 00:21:50,539 and I didn't have to walk all the way from North Carolina to find a place to die. 268 00:21:51,210 --> 00:21:54,908 - Let's go home, Grandfather. - This mountain is my home. 269 00:21:54,980 --> 00:21:57,313 Grandfather, what are you saying? 270 00:21:57,383 --> 00:22:00,114 The white man has told me where to live. 271 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,113 I will not let him tell me where to die. 272 00:22:53,272 --> 00:22:57,403 Daddy! Daddy! Wake up, everybody! The barn's on fire! 273 00:23:09,788 --> 00:23:12,087 Get Myrtle out of here! Get her out now! 274 00:23:12,157 --> 00:23:15,457 Come on, get the buckets! Somebody get the hose! Come on! 275 00:23:16,195 --> 00:23:18,096 Myrtle. Where's Myrtle? 276 00:23:20,866 --> 00:23:22,266 Myrtle! 277 00:23:28,674 --> 00:23:30,151 Come on, get out of here. I'll deal with you later. 278 00:23:30,175 --> 00:23:32,974 Come on, Pa, bring those buckets over here! 279 00:23:42,187 --> 00:23:43,587 Here, Daddy! 280 00:23:45,791 --> 00:23:47,225 Hey, Ben! 281 00:23:58,604 --> 00:24:00,072 Watch out! 282 00:24:11,850 --> 00:24:13,716 Hurry, more water! 283 00:24:15,321 --> 00:24:17,119 Good girl! Good girl! 284 00:24:29,501 --> 00:24:31,936 I think we've put it out. 285 00:24:35,341 --> 00:24:37,537 Well, we're gonna have to rebuild these walls. 286 00:24:37,609 --> 00:24:39,271 Good thing the animals got out. 287 00:24:39,345 --> 00:24:42,144 Lucky it didn't reach the house. 288 00:24:46,685 --> 00:24:49,849 - You all right, Elizabeth? - I'm scared. 289 00:24:49,922 --> 00:24:51,288 It's over now. 290 00:24:51,357 --> 00:24:52,450 Did you start the fire? 291 00:24:57,396 --> 00:24:58,694 I have done it. 292 00:24:58,764 --> 00:25:02,223 Old man, get off this place before I do something I'll be sorry for. 293 00:25:02,301 --> 00:25:06,466 The sacred ground must be purified with fire. 294 00:25:06,538 --> 00:25:08,905 Next time I will not fail. 295 00:25:10,509 --> 00:25:12,410 Jason, get the Sheriff. 296 00:26:08,033 --> 00:26:09,126 - Grandpa? - Uh-huh? 297 00:26:09,201 --> 00:26:13,263 - Why aren't you working on the barn? - Sheriff says to leave it for evidence. 298 00:26:13,338 --> 00:26:14,704 Want some help? 299 00:26:14,773 --> 00:26:16,469 Yes, I always could use some help from you. 300 00:26:16,542 --> 00:26:19,944 Just hold this nail... No, you hold the board while I nail it. 301 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,515 What's gonna happen to Mr. Teskigi? 302 00:26:23,582 --> 00:26:26,746 Well, he's in jail now, and he's likely to stay there for a while. 303 00:26:26,819 --> 00:26:28,117 It's our fault, isn't it? 304 00:26:28,187 --> 00:26:31,453 No, that old man got himself into that fix he's in. 305 00:26:32,191 --> 00:26:34,854 - Yeah, but it's because of us. - No. 306 00:26:34,927 --> 00:26:39,763 It's because of something that happened years and years before we was even born. 307 00:26:40,399 --> 00:26:42,800 Still, I'd like to say I'm sorry. 308 00:26:43,035 --> 00:26:46,938 Elizabeth, you mustn't go around blaming yourself for something 309 00:26:47,005 --> 00:26:50,669 that happened so many years ago and that you couldn't help. 310 00:26:50,742 --> 00:26:52,540 But I know your feeling, though. 311 00:26:52,611 --> 00:26:56,742 I've been having some of the same kind of feeling all this morning. 312 00:27:03,722 --> 00:27:05,350 Fence mended. 313 00:27:11,296 --> 00:27:13,765 - I hear you're looking for me, Ep. - Yeah. 314 00:27:13,832 --> 00:27:17,633 - What have I done this time? - Oh, I tell you, Judge, 315 00:27:18,470 --> 00:27:22,601 I'd have to think twice, maybe three times before I arrested you. 316 00:27:23,041 --> 00:27:26,409 Now, what's this about you locking up some old Indian? 317 00:27:26,512 --> 00:27:28,003 No respect for age? 318 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:30,948 Yeah, well, then I guess you heard about John Walton's barn. 319 00:27:31,016 --> 00:27:34,919 Mmm-hmm. You... You think the man's guilty? 320 00:27:35,187 --> 00:27:37,247 Oh, he admits it, Judge. 321 00:27:37,322 --> 00:27:40,588 In fact, he claims next time he's gonna burn her all the way to the ground. 322 00:27:40,659 --> 00:27:41,718 Hmm. 323 00:27:44,563 --> 00:27:47,965 What are we... What are we gonna do with him? 324 00:27:48,467 --> 00:27:51,904 Well, Judge, it's up to you. 325 00:27:52,604 --> 00:27:53,697 Yeah. 326 00:28:03,649 --> 00:28:06,312 Jim-Bob, I need a ride to Rockfish. 327 00:28:06,385 --> 00:28:08,377 - What for? - It's personal. 328 00:28:08,954 --> 00:28:11,166 Well, next time I'm going over there, I'll give you a ride. 329 00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:12,818 This has to be today. 330 00:28:12,891 --> 00:28:15,725 Elizabeth, I'm not running a taxi service. 331 00:28:16,061 --> 00:28:18,223 If you were, how much would you charge? 332 00:28:18,297 --> 00:28:20,596 - How much do you have? - A quarter. 333 00:28:20,666 --> 00:28:22,999 - That's not enough. - I did some sewing for Erin. 334 00:28:23,068 --> 00:28:26,766 When she gets paid, she's gonna give me a dime. Thirty-five cents? 335 00:28:26,838 --> 00:28:28,534 Still not enough. 336 00:28:28,607 --> 00:28:32,271 All right, 50 cents, but I don't know how I'm gonna get it. 337 00:28:32,344 --> 00:28:34,404 Well, 50 cents is enough to pay for that inner tube 338 00:28:34,479 --> 00:28:37,278 they've been holding for me at the junk shop. 339 00:28:37,716 --> 00:28:40,914 Okay, Elizabeth, you got yourself a taxi service. 340 00:29:15,487 --> 00:29:19,288 Well, morning, Miss Elizabeth. 341 00:29:21,026 --> 00:29:25,191 - I have to see Mr. Teskigi. - Yeah? What do you wanna see him for? 342 00:29:26,632 --> 00:29:28,726 - I have to talk to him. - Oh. 343 00:29:30,502 --> 00:29:33,870 - Your folks know you're here? - Jim-Bob brought me. 344 00:29:38,076 --> 00:29:43,105 You haven't got any concealed weapons or any hacksaws 345 00:29:43,815 --> 00:29:45,283 to help him escape, have you? 346 00:29:45,350 --> 00:29:47,285 - No, sir. - Sure. 347 00:29:48,253 --> 00:29:49,482 Come on. 348 00:29:49,621 --> 00:29:52,887 Chief, you got company. 349 00:30:01,500 --> 00:30:03,492 I'm sorry you're in jail. 350 00:30:05,037 --> 00:30:06,266 Me, too. 351 00:30:10,509 --> 00:30:13,001 I thought you might like a visitor. 352 00:30:14,980 --> 00:30:16,312 Thank you. 353 00:30:19,184 --> 00:30:21,813 It cost me 50 cents to come over here. 354 00:30:33,365 --> 00:30:38,201 I've been in Sheriff Bridges' office, but I've never been back here. It's awful. 355 00:30:42,908 --> 00:30:47,846 I came here to tell you I'm sorry for what the whites did to the Indians. 356 00:30:52,517 --> 00:30:56,921 Before I met you, I didn't know anything about the Indians. 357 00:30:57,989 --> 00:31:01,551 I'd seen them in pictures in books and in the movies, 358 00:31:02,627 --> 00:31:08,032 but they were always on the warpath, scalping people and burning their houses. 359 00:31:10,702 --> 00:31:15,003 But you're not like that. You're real people just like us. 360 00:31:16,308 --> 00:31:21,042 Your skin isn't even red. It's tan like we get in the summertime. 361 00:31:25,317 --> 00:31:28,481 I'm afraid you don't know what I'm trying to say. 362 00:31:32,524 --> 00:31:34,425 In our legends, 363 00:31:36,261 --> 00:31:42,258 it is told at one time all things living were in the sky. 364 00:31:43,969 --> 00:31:48,805 They lived on sky rock, and this was before the world was made. 365 00:31:49,608 --> 00:31:55,377 All the animals could talk to man and man understood them. 366 00:31:56,047 --> 00:32:00,280 Then man dishonored the privilege 367 00:32:01,586 --> 00:32:07,253 and he was stricken deaf from the talk of the animals and birds. 368 00:32:09,161 --> 00:32:12,689 The Great One over the sky rock 369 00:32:13,298 --> 00:32:18,464 punished man so that he could only understand his own kind. 370 00:32:20,205 --> 00:32:23,004 And most tragically today, 371 00:32:24,242 --> 00:32:27,906 man cannot always understand man. 372 00:32:38,590 --> 00:32:41,719 Now, Mr. Teskigi, this is not a formal hearing. 373 00:32:43,261 --> 00:32:46,754 You have caused considerable anguish to a citizen of this county 374 00:32:46,832 --> 00:32:49,165 by trying to burn his barn down. 375 00:32:49,434 --> 00:32:52,495 Now, frankly, I don't know what to do with you, 376 00:32:52,571 --> 00:32:55,598 but maybe by the end of this hearing we will. 377 00:32:57,309 --> 00:33:01,371 We've asked Mr. Cross to step in here to look out for your interests. 378 00:33:01,446 --> 00:33:04,883 Mr. Cross, do you have any statement to make at this time? 379 00:33:04,950 --> 00:33:07,419 Well, I've met with Mr. Teskigi, Your Honor, 380 00:33:07,486 --> 00:33:11,389 and I'm sorry to say he's been completely uncommunicative. 381 00:33:11,823 --> 00:33:15,419 - You mean he won't talk to you? - That's right, sir. 382 00:33:19,631 --> 00:33:21,759 Do you have anything to say, Mr. Walton? 383 00:33:21,833 --> 00:33:24,667 The harm's already been done, Your Honor. 384 00:33:24,736 --> 00:33:28,696 I'd just like to make sure he doesn't come around my place anymore. 385 00:33:28,773 --> 00:33:31,004 Well, sounds reasonable to me. 386 00:33:31,977 --> 00:33:34,708 How does that sound to you, Mr. Teskigi? 387 00:33:35,881 --> 00:33:38,009 The ground must be purified. 388 00:33:38,817 --> 00:33:42,447 Well, surely not at the cost of John Walton's barn. 389 00:33:43,388 --> 00:33:47,985 - It must be done. - No, Mr. Teskigi, it must not be done. 390 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:53,021 We here in Virginia are tolerant of a good many intrusions on our way of life, 391 00:33:53,098 --> 00:33:56,034 but barn burning is savage and reprehensible, 392 00:33:56,101 --> 00:33:59,663 and we cannot and will not allow that to happen. 393 00:34:00,405 --> 00:34:03,637 May I remind you that your actions are no different 394 00:34:03,708 --> 00:34:08,373 than when the settlers first came here and your forbearers pillaged and burned 395 00:34:08,446 --> 00:34:12,076 and went on the warpath, burning and killing at will. 396 00:34:28,166 --> 00:34:30,965 I was told by a young friend this morning 397 00:34:32,137 --> 00:34:35,869 that she had found me to be a human being. 398 00:34:37,375 --> 00:34:44,214 This came to her as some surprise because of the way she was taught. 399 00:34:45,517 --> 00:34:51,423 Only she seems to be aware that I am not a savage, 400 00:34:52,390 --> 00:34:55,053 nor were my ancestors. 401 00:34:57,195 --> 00:35:02,566 I am 101 years old. I will not live many more years. 402 00:35:08,873 --> 00:35:10,808 Go on, Mr. Teskigi. 403 00:35:11,476 --> 00:35:16,710 When I was an infant, the white settlers came to Cherokee land, 404 00:35:17,515 --> 00:35:20,917 a land rich in forest and game. 405 00:35:21,686 --> 00:35:25,987 The white man decided he wanted those lands. 406 00:35:26,858 --> 00:35:30,818 Laws were made forcing the Indians to leave. 407 00:35:31,529 --> 00:35:33,760 Soldiers were sent against us, 408 00:35:34,499 --> 00:35:41,064 and my people were forced at gunpoint to leave their land and their homes. 409 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:47,604 They were forced to march thousands of miles through forest and rivers 410 00:35:47,679 --> 00:35:50,649 to resettle in a place called Oklahoma. 411 00:35:51,282 --> 00:35:57,244 Though many dropped with hunger and exhaustion, the march never stopped. 412 00:35:58,289 --> 00:36:04,820 Those that could not keep up, the old, the sick, the women with children, 413 00:36:05,430 --> 00:36:08,195 were left to die beside the trail. 414 00:36:10,035 --> 00:36:14,063 Seventeen thousand Cherokees started that march. 415 00:36:14,773 --> 00:36:18,540 Four thousand died along the way. 416 00:36:19,377 --> 00:36:22,404 They called it the Trail of Tears. 417 00:36:23,715 --> 00:36:26,742 You did not go on that march, Mr. Teskigi. 418 00:36:28,086 --> 00:36:32,751 A handful of people from my tribe escaped into the hills. 419 00:36:33,892 --> 00:36:37,294 I was carried there in the arms of my mother. 420 00:36:37,362 --> 00:36:40,264 My father was forced to join the march. 421 00:36:41,733 --> 00:36:43,725 We never saw him again. 422 00:36:46,304 --> 00:36:49,900 I remember nothing of this, but it is part of me. 423 00:36:51,309 --> 00:36:56,145 I know that the bones of many of my ancestors 424 00:36:56,214 --> 00:36:59,241 lie thousands of miles away along that trail. 425 00:37:00,452 --> 00:37:05,322 My own father lies forever in some distant forest, 426 00:37:06,224 --> 00:37:08,955 unburied, un-mourned. 427 00:37:10,428 --> 00:37:17,062 It is the belief of the Cherokee that for his spirit to rest in peace, 428 00:37:17,736 --> 00:37:20,672 he must be buried in sacred ground. 429 00:37:23,775 --> 00:37:28,543 When my days on this earth are ended, 430 00:37:29,614 --> 00:37:34,245 I would go to my death with a peaceful heart 431 00:37:35,553 --> 00:37:41,720 if my bones could lie with those of my ancestors in sacred ground. 432 00:38:02,247 --> 00:38:05,308 Mr. Walton, I'm sorry. 433 00:38:15,527 --> 00:38:17,393 Is he dead? 434 00:38:17,962 --> 00:38:19,863 I don't think so. 435 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:38,011 Thought I'd put her out in the sun here. 436 00:38:38,683 --> 00:38:41,209 She doesn't seem to be getting much better. 437 00:38:41,286 --> 00:38:43,721 Just have to wait and hope, honey. 438 00:38:44,589 --> 00:38:47,218 - You all right? - I don't know. 439 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:50,791 So many sad things have been happening. 440 00:38:52,163 --> 00:38:55,531 - I'll probably never see Matthew again. - Probably not. 441 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:57,178 When his grandfather gets better, 442 00:38:57,202 --> 00:39:00,366 they'll probably send him back to North Carolina. 443 00:39:18,189 --> 00:39:21,898 Grandpa, do you think they're really here? 444 00:39:21,922 --> 00:39:23,025 Who's here? 445 00:39:23,695 --> 00:39:26,460 - The Indian graves. - Maybe. Maybe not. 446 00:39:28,433 --> 00:39:31,870 If they are here, their bones won't be any different 447 00:39:31,936 --> 00:39:36,067 than the bones buried up there on Walton's Mountain, our own ancestors. 448 00:39:36,875 --> 00:39:40,073 They've just been here a mite longer though maybe. 449 00:39:43,314 --> 00:39:45,715 There's only one way to find out. 450 00:40:07,906 --> 00:40:09,430 Pa, what are you doing? 451 00:40:09,454 --> 00:40:12,241 I'm just satisfying an old man's curiosity. 452 00:40:12,877 --> 00:40:17,110 Well, when your curiosity is satisfied, Pa, there's work to be done in the mill. 453 00:40:17,181 --> 00:40:18,774 Grandpa, look! 454 00:40:21,185 --> 00:40:25,281 This shows that there was Indians around here on this very spot. 455 00:40:32,864 --> 00:40:36,824 - Some of their pottery. - Doesn't prove it's their burial ground. 456 00:40:43,841 --> 00:40:45,332 Here. 457 00:40:46,678 --> 00:40:47,941 Skull! 458 00:40:50,848 --> 00:40:55,718 Grandfather Joseph was right. This is their Indian burial ground. 459 00:40:56,054 --> 00:40:59,855 - Burial ground? - Yes, and this proves it. 460 00:41:02,060 --> 00:41:03,961 Erin, we found a skull. 461 00:41:04,595 --> 00:41:07,531 Sheriff Bridges called me at the switchboard. 462 00:41:08,099 --> 00:41:09,727 Mr. Teskigi died. 463 00:41:42,633 --> 00:41:44,727 You gonna sit up all night? 464 00:41:46,371 --> 00:41:48,101 I'll be along, Liv. 465 00:41:49,941 --> 00:41:52,570 You didn't cause that old man's death. 466 00:41:55,146 --> 00:41:56,614 I don't know. 467 00:41:57,682 --> 00:42:00,015 He was over 100 years old. 468 00:42:01,119 --> 00:42:03,145 I've been thinking that... 469 00:42:04,489 --> 00:42:07,789 I've been thinking about that day I chased him away. 470 00:42:08,359 --> 00:42:10,851 Him claiming he was gonna tear down our barn, 471 00:42:10,928 --> 00:42:14,387 me losing my temper, Pa trying to find a middle ground. 472 00:42:15,933 --> 00:42:18,903 Maybe if I'd listened to the old man, he'd be alive today. 473 00:42:18,970 --> 00:42:20,836 Stop blaming yourself. 474 00:42:22,673 --> 00:42:25,734 He was right, Liv. This is their burial ground. 475 00:42:26,244 --> 00:42:29,442 Pa found a lot more bones in that hole he started. 476 00:42:30,782 --> 00:42:34,514 If you'd known that then, would you have torn down the barn? 477 00:42:37,388 --> 00:42:38,856 I don't know. 478 00:42:45,563 --> 00:42:47,225 What's the matter? 479 00:42:52,236 --> 00:42:54,102 Someone's in the barn. 480 00:43:26,237 --> 00:43:27,466 Grandpa! 481 00:43:29,874 --> 00:43:31,218 What the thunder is going on, Livie? 482 00:43:31,242 --> 00:43:33,336 There's somebody in the barn. John's out there now. 483 00:43:33,411 --> 00:43:35,312 I'd better go, too. 484 00:43:40,351 --> 00:43:41,546 Oh, no! 485 00:43:48,359 --> 00:43:50,191 Pa, douse the fire! 486 00:43:52,163 --> 00:43:55,656 - Thought you'd finish the job, huh? - I came back to treat Myrtle. 487 00:43:55,733 --> 00:43:59,636 I found the root in the woods. I made a fire to boil it. 488 00:43:59,704 --> 00:44:01,229 Goldenseal. 489 00:44:06,711 --> 00:44:11,843 The goat is better now. I will go and I won't trouble you ever again. 490 00:44:14,519 --> 00:44:16,010 Hold on. 491 00:44:18,456 --> 00:44:22,291 Your grandfather was right about the burial ground. It's here. 492 00:44:22,793 --> 00:44:26,958 I built this barn with my own hands when I was a young man. 493 00:44:27,398 --> 00:44:31,301 - If I'd had known... - This was your sacred ground. We're sorry. 494 00:44:32,837 --> 00:44:34,305 I understand. 495 00:44:36,974 --> 00:44:41,105 Every burial ground begins with a single grave, a single loved one. 496 00:44:41,379 --> 00:44:45,817 Up on Walton's Mountain, there's an unspoiled ridge near the Indian Rock. 497 00:44:46,150 --> 00:44:49,211 We can begin a burial ground there if you like. 498 00:45:10,808 --> 00:45:13,243 Pa, you wanna say something? 499 00:45:13,878 --> 00:45:17,246 We have come here today for a solemn purpose. 500 00:45:17,315 --> 00:45:21,377 We're here to grant Matthew Teskigi the right to this plot of land 501 00:45:21,786 --> 00:45:26,224 in the hope it will serve as a fitting resting place for his grandfather. 502 00:45:32,563 --> 00:45:37,501 Father Sun, Mother Moon, and your children, the stars, 503 00:45:38,936 --> 00:45:41,337 I ask blessings on this mountain. 504 00:45:41,806 --> 00:45:46,073 Let it be from this time forward an honored Cherokee burial grounds. 505 00:45:46,510 --> 00:45:50,675 May its sheltering soil give comfort to those who come here to rest 506 00:45:50,748 --> 00:45:53,912 before that last great journey to the unknown. 507 00:46:19,377 --> 00:46:24,941 Hallowed land, earth of my ancestors, receive my grandfather. 508 00:46:26,183 --> 00:46:29,244 I return him once more to your lasting embrace. 509 00:46:37,695 --> 00:46:41,223 Who owns the land? Only the land knows. 510 00:46:41,832 --> 00:46:43,698 We mortals are passersby 511 00:46:43,768 --> 00:46:48,206 and our lives are but a brief moment in the great span of time and space. 512 00:46:48,639 --> 00:46:53,441 We are born, we live out our lives, and most of us do the best we can with it. 513 00:46:53,911 --> 00:46:58,178 But the wind is forever, and the rivers flow forever to the sea, 514 00:46:58,249 --> 00:47:02,209 and all the seasons of the weathers will come and go after we are gone, 515 00:47:02,286 --> 00:47:05,779 but the earth endures. The earth is eternal. 516 00:47:08,326 --> 00:47:10,761 - Grandpa? - Yes, Elizabeth? 517 00:47:11,128 --> 00:47:14,326 When Indians die, do they go to the same heaven as we do? 518 00:47:14,398 --> 00:47:16,629 Very definitely, yes. 519 00:47:17,034 --> 00:47:18,866 - Grandpa? - Yes? 520 00:47:19,203 --> 00:47:22,765 If you get there ahead of me, will you look up Grandfather Joseph? 521 00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:24,706 I certainly will. 522 00:47:24,775 --> 00:47:27,370 Just tell him Myrtle and me will be along one day. 523 00:47:27,445 --> 00:47:29,880 - I'll do that. - Thank you. 524 00:47:29,947 --> 00:47:32,678 - Good night, Elizabeth. - Good night. 525 00:48:20,698 --> 00:48:21,698 English -SDH