Native+Americans

===__//**Native American**//__ === ===- In 1831, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee-Creek, and Seminole were living as self government nations in the American Deep South. ===

===-The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail commemorates the removal of the Cherokee and the paths that 17 Cherokee detachments followed westward. It also raises a greater awareness of the trail's legacy and the effects of the United States' policy of American Indian removal not only on the Cherokee, but also on other tribes, primarily the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. ===

===-The Indian Removal Act of 1830 described the US government policy of Indian removal, which is the relocation of Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. While it did not authorize the forced removal of the indigenous tribes, it authorized the President to negotiate land exchange treaties with tribes located in lands of the United States. The Intercourse Law of 1834 prohibited United States citizens from entering tribal lands granted by such treaties without permission, though it was often ignored. ===

===-While the Indian Removal Act made the relocation of the tribes voluntary, it was often abused by government officials. The best-known example is the Treaty of New Echota. It was negotiated and signed by a small faction of Cherokee tribal members, not the tribal leadership, on December 29, 1835. It resulted in the forced relocation of the tribe in 1838. An estimated 4,000 Cherokees died in the march, now known as the Trail of Tears. In the next few decades, white settlers intruded on even into the western lands set aside for Native Americans. European-American settlers eventually made an area of public land in the West (usually 160 acres) granted to any US citizen willing to settle on and farm the land for at least five years from coast to coast, just as the Native Americans had before them. No tribe was untouched by the influence of white traders, farmers, and soldiers. ===