ARKANSAS TRAIL OF TEARS ASSOCIATION

The Trail of Tears Association (TOTA) is a nonprofit support network for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Designated as a national historic trail by Congress in 1987, the Trail commemorates the forced removal of the Cherokee people from their homelands in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1838-1839. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is part of the National Trails System, which includes legislatively-designated recreation, scenic, and historic trails.

While administered by the National Park Service, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail depends on partnerships with federal, state and local agencies, private landowners, and interested individuals such as the TOTA volunteers.

Nine states have TOTA chapters: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

The Arkansas Chapter is working to commemorate the land and water removal routes not only of the Cherokees, but also of the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Muscogee Creeks and Seminoles, as they passed through Arkansas on their way to Indian Territory.