The Trail of Tears in the by Clint Vernoy T Amazon uesday night the 23rd, I was attending the birth of a little baby girl to a young woman in the village. She gave birth around 2:00 a.m. I got home and didn't get to bed until around 3:00 a.m. Ten minutes after I went to bed, a knock came at the door and they were calling me to another birth. This one was a mother of six. She was having trouble delivering and they wanted me to help. After about an hour of work, we were able to help her deliver it, but I noticed some bright red blood that had pooled before I got there. I was worried but couldn't really do anything out here. The bleeding seemed to stop and I came home around 4:30 a.m. I was awakened with the news that she was dead. She was named Magdalena, a sweet spirited woman, very shy and quiet but faithful al- ways to church. She was always in the back on the left hand side. She gave birth to a little boy. The birth happened so fast that she gave birth on the path and she must have rup- tured her uterus. I began to make the coffin. Magdelena's husband and I are the best carpenters in the village. I made a coffin for him. I put a small cross on NATIONS • 11