TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — Cherokee Nation officials are planning to mark an 1839 date that began the creation of what became the tribe's current form of government.
Tuesday's ceremony in Cherokee Nation Capitol Square will recognize the 175th anniversary of the 1839 Act of Union.
The act created a unified political body for Cherokees who relocated west years before the tribe's forced removal and those who settled in the area after the Trail of Tears.
Cherokee officials plan to honor the milestone by planting a dogwood tree at the square. The dogwood has cultural significance to Cherokees because it can be found along the Trail of Tears and throughout northeast Oklahoma, where the tribe is based today.