In remembrance of the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee Nation is organizing a 1,000 mile bike ride retracing the route of the original removal of the Cherokee people from Georgia to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the current capital of the Cherokee Nation:
During the 2011 Remember the Removal Project, a challenging 1,000 mile bike ride, a selected group of Cherokee students will retrace the historic Trail of Tears, riding from the original Cherokee homelands Georgia and ending in Tahlequah, Okla., the capital of the Cherokee Nation.
Students who are selected for the project will spend the spring training both together and separately, then meet in Tahlequah at the beginning of June and drive to Georgia. From there, the bike ride begins in early June and will end approximately 20 days later, back in Tahlequah. As weather and terrain permits, the group will camp along the route some nights, while other nights will be spent in commercial lodging.
via Remember The Removal > HOME.
For those not intimately familiar with Oklahoma history or Native American history in general, the Trail of Tears is the route taken by members of the Five Civilized Tribes from their home lands on the east coast to their reservation lands in Oklahoma in a forced removal starting in 1831. Many thousands died including at least 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokees.
The ride is open to any high school or college student who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, at least 16 years of age. The ride is limited to 15 riders. Complete details about the ride and the accompanying project can be found at the Remember The Removal project website: http://www.remembertheremoval.cherokee.org.