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Cherokee Chief: End Of Trail Of Tears Worthy Of Celebration

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker
Cherokee Nation

The principal chief of the Cherokee Nation says the 175th anniversary of the end of the Trail of Tears is a cause for celebration.

Several thousand Cherokee Indians died as they were forced from their homelands in the southeast into Indian Territory, beginning in 1838.

Monday marks the anniversary of the arrival of the final group to present-day Oklahoma.

Chief Bill John Baker says tribal members feel a sense of pride from the Trail of Tears. He says that, despite the trials and tribulations, Cherokee ancestors survived and the tribe has thrived.

Baker and other Cherokee Nation officials marked the day with an event at the Cherokee Heritage Center where a painting by artist Dorothy Sullivan was unveiled.

Sullivan has created a series of paintings depicting the forced relocation.

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