The passage of U.S. President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act in 1830 affected large numbers of Native peoples who had made their homes for centuries in the southeastern region of the North American continent. Those who were forcibly removed from their homelands included the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek. Smaller populations of the Seminole and what became known as the Eastern Band Cherokee, managed to escape removal, but most were sent west of the Mississippi on a series of forced marches in 1838-1839 that became known as the Trail of Tears. 

The DVD that is being offered this month as a premium, TRAIL OF TEARS: CHEROKEE LEGACY, explores this dark period and, in particular, the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation to Oklahoma in 1838. Nearly a quarter of Cherokee people died during the Trail of Tears, arriving in “Indian Territory” with just a few elders and even fewer children. This powerful award-winning film is presented by actor Wes Studi (Cherokee), a fluent speaker of his Cherokee language, and narrated by James Earl Jones (Cherokee ancestry). Steven R. Heape (Cherokee Nation) is the film’s Producer and Executive Producer and Chip Richie is the Director and Producer. Talking with “First Voices Radio” Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse and Morning Show Host Michael G. Haskins will be former long-time Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Chad Smith. The film has been endorsed by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and Eastern Band of Cherokee.

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