References: Muriel H. Wright, "Seal of The Cherokee Nation." The Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume XXXIV (Summer, 1956): original painting by Guy C. Reid.

The Cherokee Nation extended from the mountains of North and South Carolina, through Georgia, and all the way to Tennessee.  Its form of government followed that of the United States:  a republican form of government operating under a Constitution and electing a Chief and a representative legislature.   The Cherokees coexisted with their white neighbors until gold was discovered in their territories.  At that time, the state of Georgia sued for their removal from the area and their relocation to territories in Oklahoma.  There was an extended legal battle and, for a while, it looked as if the Cherokee nation would succeed in its fight to remain on their lands when the United States Supreme Court sided with them.   The state of Georgia, however, managed to secure an order for the tribe's removal   When President Andrew Jackson did not interfere with the order, the entire Cherokee nation was forced by the military to abandon its lands and move to Oklahoma.  What resulted was a forced march across the South which became known as The Trail of Tears and one of the more shameful periods in our history.