As many as 100,000 Native Americans relocated to the West as a result of this Indian removal policy . In theory , relocation was supposed to be voluntary and many Native Americans did remain in the East . In practice , great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties . The most egregious violation , the Trail of Tears , was the removal of the Cherokee by President Jackson to Indian Territory . The 1864 deportation of the Navajos by the U.S. government occurred when 8,000 Navajos were forced to an internment camp in Bosque Redondo , where , under armed guards , more than 3,500 Navajo and Mescalero Apache men , women , and children died from starvation and disease
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Native Americans in the United States