Despite the '' Worcester v. Georgia '' ruling in their favor , the majority of Cherokees were forcibly relocated westward to Indian Territory in 1838 – 1839 , a migration known as the Trail of Tears or in Cherokee ᏅᎾ ᏓᎤᎳ ᏨᏱ or '' Nvna Daula Tsvyi '' ( Cherokee : The Trail Where They Cried ) . This took place during the Indian Removal Act of 1830 . The harsh treatment the Cherokee received at the hands of white settlers caused some to enroll to emigrate west . As some Cherokees were slaveholders , they took enslaved African-Americans with them west of the Mississippi . Intermarried European-Americans and missionaries also walked the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Cherokee history