 This third episode opens on May 26, 1838, when federal troops forced thousands of Cherokee from their homes in the southeastern United States, driving them toward Indian Territory in Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the way. For years the tribe had resisted removal from their land. Cherokee leaders had established a republic with a European-style legislature and legal system. Their visionary principal chief, John Ross, would even take the Cherokee case to the Supreme Court, where he won crucial recognition of tribal sovereignty that still resonates. In the end, however, their landmark legal victory proved no match for white land hunger and military power. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series We Shall Remain: America Through Native Eyes. (60 minutes)
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