Cultural+Journeys+Theme+Research

How physical journeys affect people emotionally and physically?
Some journeys that we go on are put upon us by force, and some are by choice. Like the aboriginals and the Crusades their journey were put upon them by choice. On the other hand the Jews during the Holocaust and the Cherokee Indians during the Trail of Tears, their journey were forced on them. Also some journeys can affect the person or people emotionally and or physically. The aboriginal journey is supposed to change them into a man, physically. The Trail of Tears and the Holocaust affected both parties of people emotionally and physically.

A walkabout is a physical and spiritual journey that Australian Aboriginal males go on. It is their transformation from boy to man. They must live alone and survive off the land for a period of time as long as 6 months. It is when they accept the land as their “mother” and develop a relationship with her. It is said that they also meet the spirits of their ancestors and grow close to them in their dreams; for these spirits are the ones which will watch over them and protect them throughout their lives. This physical journey is one which changes them mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Burns, Maureen G. "Aboriginal Walkabout Journeying." Archangels wisdom. 20009. 7 Apr. 2009 ;.

"Australian Aborigines." Amazing Australia.com. 10 Apr. 2009.

"Australian Aborigines dreaming stories." Myths and legends. 28 Dec. 2005. 10 Apr. 2009 [].

[] In 1096, the Crusaders set of to rescue the Holy Land from the Turks. They covered hundreds of miles of harsh terrain in all kinds of weather and suffered from disease, malnutrition, and many other problems.The Crusaders journey to Jerusalem had a huge emotional impact on them. By the time they got to Jerusalem they had transformed from civilians who sought glory and god to desperate, aggressive people who killed mercilessly. One of the things that contributed to this change in character is that they were forced to be violent and aggressive in order to stay alive during their journey. There was not enough food for all of the crusaders and when they got to a town merchants would raise the prices tremendously because they knew the men would pay any amount for the food. Therefore, they were reduced to pillaging and plunder in order to get food and soon became violent and aggressive. This journey to Jerusalem affected them not only physically, but emotionally as well.

Krauss, Louis. Personal interview. 8 Apr. 2009. Trueman, Chris. "The First Crusade." 2000. __History Learning Site__. 9 Apr. 2009 <[]>.

Life for the Jewish people in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust was just like how you or I live. Very ordinary, boys and sometimes girls went to school to learn their Hebrew ways. Going to the synagogue for daily prayers was very important to the Jewish culture. Emotionally, people of the Jewish back round were very stable. Many household names became big. Politics also became popular for the Jewish people, through the years of 1870 to 1919 Rosa Luxenburg who was a Jew and a woman was famous in politics. In the early 1930’s many Jews in Europe, about 50% worked as doctors and scientists. Sadly after the Holocaust 1933-1939 the Nazis had changed the ways and lives of the Jews forever. Before the Jews were emotionally stable working and living without much fear. After however, the Jews were defiantly emotionally unstable, trying to search for family members or finding family members was not uncommon during the time of liberations. Also facing the fear and grieving about it with your fellow survivors in churches was a good way of overcoming the fear and gaining back your safety. Some good points about the survivors of the horrible Holocaust, was that many children tried to catch up on lost education time. About 1/3 of the women between the ages of 18-45 was having a baby, babies to the Jews was a sign of hope. So emotionally the Jews had gone through a tough rollercoaster of good times, horrible times, hopeless times, and times of comfort and hope.

Wood, Angela. Holocaust the events and their impact on real people. DK publishing Inc., 2007. Life before the Holocaust: Happy and smiles http://www.elpasoholocaustmuseum.org/images/david_caplan.jpg

Life after the Holocaust: Sad and scared http://infotrue.com/76278.jpg

The Trail of Tears did not only affect the Cherokee Indians physically but emotionally as well. On May 28, 1830 the Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. This act was to trade the east lands of Indians for the land west of the Mississippi. The Cherokee Indians would build their tribes along rivers for fertile land. The U.S. army troops had trouble removing the Cherokees; but some were easy to remove because they thought of it as a political and financial gain to the new territory. The long process of the Cherokee Indians being forced out soon became known as the Trail of Tears. When they finally got to new land they slowing rebuilt their lives. They were never given the choice to move, they were forced out and they had to repair their living styles in the new lands. []

Whether the journey was by force or something people embarked upon by choice, each of these physical journeys affected people emotionally. While you would think that the journeys people chose to go on would have a postive emotional affect, that is not always true. The Crusaders are a good example of this because their journey left them violent and merciless. In contrast, many of the journeys people had to go on forced them to move on and start a new life. Both the Jews and the Cherokee Indians were required to find the emotional strength to rebuild their lives. Because we are affected by everyting we see or experiance, all physical journeys have some sort of an emitional impact on us.