Trail of tears

I received a lovely package from my friend, Marc containing some very special beans and a lovely Louise Bourgeois postcard. The beans are from The Real Seed Catalogue, No. 99046 'Cherokee Trail of Tears'

This bean was originally from the native North American Cherokee people. In 1838 they were driven out of their homelands in the state of Georgia by the US government to make room for more European settlers , a forced march known as the 'Trail of Tears'. This bean is one of their heirlooms they managed to keep with them and has been passed on from generation to generation ever since.