The Trail of Tears was a forced relocation of Native American tribes, particularly the Cherokee, from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to designated Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Authorized by the Indian Removal Act of 1830, this brutal march was intended to facilitate white settlement and agricultural expansion. The process resulted in immense suffering, disease, and death for thousands of Native Americans as they traversed the harsh landscape. The journey exemplified the U.S. government’s systematic policy of dispossession and disregard for indigenous rights, leaving lasting wounds in Native American history.