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Trail of Tears: Remember the Removal Bike Ride

People riding bicycles in formation on a road. — Remember the Removal Ride, 2023 Team.
Photo/Amaiya Bearpaw

Learn about the event from the personal experience of Amaiya Bearpaw, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma a bike rider on the 2023 team.

"The ride began as a leadership program for Cherokee youth, but it was also organized to remember and memorialize the Cherokee people who died and survived the forced removal in 1838 and 1839. Its purpose is to educate people about Cherokee removal and to honor our ancestors for their strength, courage, and sacrifice. The first bike ride took place in 1984. It was not repeated again until 2009 and has taken place every year since. Including my 2023 team, a total of 228 people have completed the ride to date—150 Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and 78 Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians cyclists. For generations, we have honored our ancestors and steps they have taken along the Trail of Tears to get us here.

While the style of our shades down to our shoes have changed, and our bikes, technology, and entourage are more sophisticated 40 years later, we still bike the original trail each day of the ride and stand in awe of the historic places and markers along the designated highways, test our endurance and emotions while bonding over 950 miles of self-discovery that make us resilient still today. Then and now, 180 years after the forced removal of our ancestors from the Southeast to Indian Territory, we remember who we are and where we came from."