Cimarron · Chapter
V explained
The Cravat family continues their journey into Oklahoma.
What happens
The Cravat family continues their journey into Oklahoma. Yancey Cravat proves helpful and tells Cim stories of Spanish treasure and the tragic history of the Cherokee Nation on the Trail of Tears, shaping the boy's sympathies. Sabra, horrified, tries to counter with negative views of Indians, leading to a conflict with Cim. The family adapts to the journey's hardships, but when Cim goes missing, Sabra frantically searches and finds him with a group of men in a hidden cave dwelling.
Themes in this chapter
Native American Dispossession
Yancey tells Cim the story of the Trail of Tears, framing it as a broken promise and theft of land, while Sabra counters with negative stereotypes, highlighting conflicting views on Native American history.
Pioneer Spirit and Manifest Destiny
The family's arduous wagon journey into Oklahoma embodies the pioneer experience, with Yancey's tales of buried treasure reflecting the dreams that drove westward expansion.
Myth vs. Reality
Yancey's romantic stories of Spanish gold and Indian history contrast with the harsh physical realities of the journey and Sabra's more conventional, fearful view of the land and its people.
Characters to notice
- Sabra Cravat
Struggles with the harsh landscape and her son's education; attempts to impose her own views on Indians; experiences panic when Cim goes missing.
- Yancey Cravat
Thrives on the journey, telling Cim stories of treasure and Indian history; teaches Sabra to relax during travel; kills a rattlesnake.
- Cim Cravat
Absorbs Yancey's tales of Indian dispossession; rebels against Sabra's anti-Indian views; wanders off and is found with strangers in a cave.
- Isaiah
Tells Cim Negro folklore and songs; helps with camp chores; loses track of Cim while gathering wood.
Key passages
“Oklahoma. That’s Choctaw. Okla —people. Humma —red. Red People. That’s what they called it when the Indians came here to live.”
Yancey explains to Cim that 'Oklahoma' is a Choctaw word meaning 'red people,' referring to the Native Americans who settled there.
Yancey educates Cim about the origin of the name Oklahoma, linking it to the indigenous inhabitants.
“He told the boy the terrific story of the Trail of Tears—of the Cherokee Nation, a simple and unnomadic people, driven from their homes in Georgia, like cattle across hundreds of miles of plain and prairie to die by the thousands before they reached the Oklahoma land that had been allotted to them, with two thousand troops under General Winfield Scott to urge on their flagging footsteps.”
Yancey recounts the forced removal of the Cherokee from Georgia to Oklahoma, where thousands died during the journey under military escort.
This passage directly addresses the historical trauma of the Trail of Tears, a key event in Native American dispossession.
“Sabra, in her turn, undertook to wipe this impression from the boy’s mind. 'Indians are bad people. They take little boys from their mammas and never bring them back. They burn down people’s houses, and hurt them. They’re dirty and lazy, and they steal.'”
Sabra tries to counter Yancey's sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans by describing them as dangerous and immoral.
Sabra's reaction reflects the racial prejudices common among white settlers, contrasting with Yancey's more nuanced view.