An emblem of 'Our Suffering, Endurance and Survival', the Mantle Rock Native Education and Culture Center takes its name from a natural rock formation located in western Kentucky near the Ohio River. It was here that thousands of Cherokee Indians sought shelter while the river was frozen and impassable in the winter of 1838-1839. Many of the Elders perished due to exposure, disease and dysentery during the removal. Hundreds perished and even more would have been lost but for the shelter of Mantle Rock.
Thousands of Cherokees visit here each year in prayer for the ancestors, both individually and as a part of the pilgrimage remembering the 'Trail of Tears.' Mantle Rock, listed as a Native American Historical lanamark is an enduring emblem of their resistance, survival, spirtuality and regathering.
In 1830, with the support of President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Relocation Act. The Cherokee initially prevailed in a court in their fight against removable from their homeland in the Smoky Mountains. However, a handful of Cherokee approved a treaty exchanging the Cherokee homeland for $5 million and 7 million acres in Oklahoma. Congress ratified the treaty in spite of a protesting petition signed by 16,000 Cherokee. They were relocated to Oklahoma.
During the overland march in the harsh winter of 1838-39, 4000 of the Cherokee perished in one of the darkest times in American history. The route they followed is known as the TRAIL OF TEARS. It encompassed about 2,200 miles of land and water routes and tranverses portions of nine states. Its approximate route through Kentucky can be retraced today by following the highway makers on US 41, KY 91 and US 641.
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