TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — The Cherokee Nation is hosts an event Monday to reflect on two significant dates in the tribe's history that led to the forced removal of Cherokee people to present-day Oklahoma.
On May 23, 1836, the Treaty of New Echota was ratified. The treaty gave the Cherokee people two years to move west from their native homelands east to Indian Territory. The forced removal started on May 24, 1838.
More than 4,000 Cherokees died during the removal, which is known as the Trail of Tears.