In the 1830s, the United States government, with the approval of the United States Congress and President Andrew Jackson, forcibly removed Southeastern American Indian tribes to present day Oklahoma. This atrocious act has been infamously named the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee tribe fought removal and was eventually granted the right to stay in their homeland by a ruling handed down by the United States Supreme Court. However, President Jackson refused to enforce this ruling. Approximately 17,000 Cherokees were rounded up and marched to Indian territory in the Winter of 1838. 4,000 Cherokees died on the journey. Today, there descendants make up the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band–both of Oklahoma. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee are descended from those Cherokee who remained in western North Carolina.
Multimedia:
Below is the Digital Heritage Moment as broadcast on the radio:
[audio:http://digitalheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Trail-of-Tears60Mx.mp3|titles=Trail of Tears60Mx]Related Posts
Cherokee Storytelling The Cherokee people, like all Native American tribes, possess an extensive, ancient oral history. Before European contact and the creation of the Cherokee syllabary. . . 
Cherokee Indian Fair Starting on the first Tuesday of October and ending the following Saturday, the Cherokee Indian Fair is an annual event one would not want to miss. After over ninety years, this fair has […]
Cherokee Fishing Weirs
Fishing weirs are obstructions created in aquatic environments in order to trap or guide fish to a desired location. The weirs are usually formed from stone or wood but can […]
Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual
Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, located on the Cherokee Indian reservation in North Carolina, was founded in 1946. Its goal is to preserve Cherokee arts and crafts, and provide Cherokee […]
Oconaluftee Indian Village In 1952, the Cherokee Historical Association opened the Oconaluftee Indian Village, a recreated Cherokee village set in the 1750s. . .
