In the 1930s , an eight-year-old boy who is given the Native American name " Little Tree " ( Joseph Ashton ) was being raised alone by his mother , having been widowed by war , and is left an orphan when she dies of illness . His white mother 's sister comes to take him but his paternal grandfather ( James Cromwell ) and grandmother ( Tantoo Cardinal ) , whose ancestors had escaped from the Trail of Tears and hidden in the Great Smoky Mountains , arrive and take the boy to live with them . In his grandparents ' care , the boy learns about his heritage as a Native American through them and their Cherokee friend Willow John ( Graham Greene ) . Little Tree is not only taught how to live the Native way as one with the Earth but also to ' learn a trade ' passed down through his granpa 's Scottish heritage , whiskey making . This causes problems for this family with professional still thieves
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Education of Little Tree (film)