The Trail of Tears as Place: The Experience of the Cherokee Nation and Forced Removal

Much has been written about the Trail of Tears as an historical event. This body of literature, written predominantly from a Western academic, non-Cherokee perspective, focuses primarily on the history of the Cherokee and the events leading up to the forced removal. However, little is actually known about the experience of the Cherokee as they journeyed across the landscape. Through my research, I hope to bring clarity and understanding of the place known as the Trail of Tears. A place filled with temporal significance, topographical difficulties and obstacles, and human emotion and attachments. A place that is best experienced by submersing oneself in a virtual historical setting created through the use of geovisualization technologies and the perspective and understanding of one whose ancestors walked the Trail of Tears. Using GIS, CAVE, serious game, and lidar technologies, I will map and re-create portions of the Trail of Tears as experienced by the Cherokee during the removal process of 1838-39, and demonstrate how the development of geographic immersive environments can serve the preservation of Indigenous cultures, knowledge, and geographic histories.