The federally legislated displacement of the tribes from their homes east of the Mississippi River took place over several decades during the series of removals , which is also known as the Trail of Tears . The territory to which they were displaced was , at the time , called Indian Territory , currently eastern Oklahoma . The most infamous removal was the Cherokee Trail of Tears of 1838 , when President Martin Van Buren enforced the contentious Treaty of New Echota with the Cherokee Nation . One point of contention regarding the treaty is whether it is an instrument of mass displacement in violation of the human rights on which the new republic had been established , or a legal exchange of territory for land further west
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Five Civilized Tribes