In 1835, a small, unauthorized group of about 100 Cherokee leaders (known as the Treaty Party) signed the Treaty of New Echota (Georgia), giving away all remaining Cherokee territory in the Southeast in exchange for land in northeastern Oklahoma.

Many Cherokee felt betrayed that their leadership accepted the deal, and over 16,000 Cherokee signed a petition to prevent the passage of the treaty. By the end of the decade in 1840, tens of thousands of Cherokee and other tribes had been removed from their land east of the Mississippi River.

The removal of the Cherokees was a product of the demand for arable land during the rampant growth of cotton agriculture in the Southeast, the discovery of gold on Cherokee land, and the racial prejudice that many white southerners harbored toward American Indians.

In response some Cherokees began moving from their homelands in Georgia and Tennessee to the Southern Great Plains. Under the legal authority of this Act, in 1838-1839, the United States military forcibly and brutally force-marched thousands of Cherokee to their new home in what would become Oklahoma.

There are 299,862 enrolled members of the Cherokee Nation of Okalahoma. They were forced to move there in 1838-39. All of them are true Cherokee and many of them “preserve their heritage”. Yes there are still full blood Cherokees.

A Cherokee born today would stand to receive at least $168,000 when he or she turns 18. The tribe pays for financial training classes for both high school students and adults. It is not a requirement that tribal members drawing checks live on the reservation, though approximately 10,000 do.

The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Catawba, and Creek tribes were the only tribes to fight on the Confederate side.

Even as the members of the tribes are U.S. citizens, their tribal heritage, culture and identity are considered distinct and are federally recognized. This sovereignty recognizes a tribe’s claim to independent identity and citizenship.

Today a majority of Native Americans and Alaska Natives live somewhere other than the reservations, often in larger western cities such as Phoenix and Los Angeles. In 2012, there were over 2.5 million Native Americans, with about 1 million living on reservations.