Nineteen Cherokee Indians are set to begin a 950-mile bicycle ride as part of the annual "Remember the Removal" ride commemorating the forced removal of Cherokees from the southeastern United States to what is now Oklahoma.
Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and members of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma who are making the ride gathered Friday in Cherokee, North Carolina, before leaving for Georgia for the start of the journey on Sunday.
The ride follows the northern route of what is known as the Trail of Tears. It begins Sunday in New Echota, Georgia and is to end June 19 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
The riders will cross Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas before ending the journey in Oklahoma.
