Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal

Best-selling author and Cherokee Nation citizen Traci Sorell writes inclusive, award-winning fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people. She is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree for her nonfiction work. She has received many awards from the American Indian Library Association. She is the author of We Are Grateful Otsaliheliga, We Are Still Here!, and Mascot, among many others.

Award-winning journalist, photographer, and Cherokee Nation and San Felipe Pueblo citizen Will Chavez previously coordinated the annual Remember the Removal ride from 2019-2024, participated in the inaugural ride in 1984, and served as a mentor rider in 2019. He is an assistant editor at the Cherokee Phoenix. He also serves on the board of directors for the National Trail of Tears Association.

The Cherokee Nation's Remember the Removal bicycle ride is a youth leadership program that includes a three-week, nearly 1,000-mile memorial ride to commemorate the forced removal of Cherokee people. The ride teaches culture, history, and language as youth cycle the same route their ancestors walked in 1838-1839.