ABOUT US
THE STORY
In the spring and summer of 1838, more than 15,000 Cherokees were removed by the U.S. Army from their ancestral homelands in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. Held in stockades through summer, they were then forced to travel 1,000 miles in adverse conditions to Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. Thousands died during the journey and the Cherokee came to call the event “Nunahi-Duna-Dlo-Hilu-I” or “Trail Where They Cried.” This catastrophic journey, one of the darker events in U.S. history, not only affected the Cherokee, but symbolized the removal of other Southeastern tribes, including the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole, and Muscogee Creek. The grim result of the U.S. government and American Indian Removal policy, forced relocation and devastated American Indian Cultures.
THE MISSION
The Trail of Tears Association is a non-profit membership organization formed for the development of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
In 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-192, designating two routes taken by the Cherokee people during their removal as a National Historic Trail within the National Historic Trail system. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is administered by the National Parks Service.
The Trail of Tears Association is a network of 9 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee) created in 1993, through the efforts of the National Parks Service and the Trail of Tears Advisory Council.
The mission of the Trail of Tears Association is to promote and engage in the protection and preservation of Trail of Tears National Historic Trail resources to encourage awareness of the Trail’s legacy. The Trail of Tears Association covers the removal stories of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole, and perpetuates the management and development techniques that are consistent with the National Park Service’s trail plan.