Tennessee Chapter
Trail of Tears Association
The Story ...
In the spring and summer of 1838, more than 15,000 Cherokee Indians were removed by the U.S. Army from their ancestral homeland in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Held in concentration-like camps through the summer, they were then forced to travel over 1,000 miles, under adverse conditions to Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. Thousands died. The Cherokees came to call the event Nunahi-Duna-Dlo-Hilu-I or Trail Where They Cried.
This catastrophic journey, one of the darker events in American history, not only affected the Cherokee, but has symbolized the removal of the other Southeastern and Eastern Indian tribes. The grim result of U.S. Government American Indian Removal Policy, the forced relocations devastated American Indian cultures
In 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-192, designating two of the routes taken by the Cherokee people in their removal as a National Historic Trail within the National Trails System. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is administered by the National Park Service.
The Mission ...
In 1993, under the auspices of the Secretary of the Interior and the Trail of Tears Advisory Council, the Trail of Tears Association was created and incorporated in Missouri as a non-profit organization. The corporation papers were signed by the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and the Principal Chief, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The Association has entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service to promote and engage in the protection and preservation of Trail of Tears National Historic Trail resources; to promote awareness of the Trail's legacy, including the effects of the U.S. Government's Indian Removal Policy on the Cherokees and other tribes; and to perpetuate the management and development techniques that are consistent with the National Park Service's trail plan.
The Trail will be managed through partnerships between the Association, the National Park Service, and other federal, state, and local agencies, groups, and individuals. Together, we will identify, protect, develop and manage trail resources and interpretive points along the Trail, and educate the public.
To commemorate the Trail and the story, assistance and support are needed from individuals and groups who wish to learn, educate others, and preserve this important part of history.
Please complete the membership form and become a supporter of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
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