Remember the Removal participants receive a send-off in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Photo from Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are hosting the annual Remember the Removal Ride.

Thirteen young members of the Cherokee Nation and six from the Eastern Band are retracing the 950-mile journey their ancestors were forced to make on the Trail of Tears from 1838-1839. The ride began on June 1 in New Echota, Georgia, the Cherokee capital at the time of removal.

The riders are currently in Tennessee, according to an update posted today on Facebook. They will travel through Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas before arriving in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, on June 19.

Get the Story:
Remember the Removal riders get special send off (The Cherokee Phoenix 6/4)
Riding to remember: Cherokee cyclists retrace tribe’s forced removal (The Smoky Mountain News 6/4)