Geography

• Under the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw ceded over 11 million acres of their land in return for 15 million acres of land in Indian Territory, which is present-day Oklahoma. This treaty was the last in a series of nine treaties agreeing to the removal of the Choctaw Nation. Because the Choctaw and subsequent Indian tribes took different routes to Indian Territory, the Trail of Tears is not a specific road; rather, it refers to the misery and death encountered by the tribes during their passage west.
  
  

History of

• The passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 made the Choctaw Nation the first to be removed under its legislation. President Andrew Jackson wanted to make the first wave of relocations a model of removal in the hope that subsequent nations would see it as peaceable. It was the suffering of these first immigrants that gave the road to Indian Territory its name, the Trail of Tears.
  
  

Time Frame

• The Choctaw Nation was the first to walk the Trail of Tears. The treaty terms stated that the first detachment of Choctaw would be escorted to Indian Territory by the end of 1833. The removal happened in three stages, with the first group escorted out in 1831 and the last leaving in 1833. Stragglers continued to make the trek throughout the 1830s but did not receive the benefits of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.
  
  

The Facts

• According to the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, in addition to land, the Choctaw were to receive funding for education, protection, land improvement and replacement of the animals they were ordered to leave behind. The Choctaw initially refused the treaty since there was no provision to protect their land rights once in Indian Territory, but were threatened with military action if they did not sign. The government had agreed to provide food and transportation on the 550-mile trek, but it soon became apparent after unexpected storms and treacherous terrain that they were ill-equipped for the amount of people they were escorting. Cholera was rampant and food, blankets and clothing were in short supply. Many of the young and elderly died from exposure.
  
  

Significance

• The Choctaw story is different because it is the first large scale removal of Indians in the United States. Most of the Choctaw who survived the Trail of Tears settled in the eastern portion of Indian Territory, although over a thousand settled in Mississippi in defiance of the treaty. Today, there are two groups of Choctaw: the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma and the the Mississippi band of Choctaw Indians, who are the descendants of those who stayed behind.