Cherokee Nation Remember the Removal Trail of Tears Memorial Ride. Photography for Smithsonian Magazine by photojournalist, editorial photographer, Kristina Krug, based in Washington DC, Chicago, Nashville, Krug Photo, portrait, photojournalism, reportage, documentary, National Public Radio, Sunday Times, Evening Standard, NPR, NYT, New York Times, Krug Photo, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Washington Post, resiliance, survival, hope, together, group, connection.
Mantle Rock Arch Preserve. Smithland, Kentucky.
Due to the passage of the 1830 Federal Indian Removal Act, Over 12,000 Cherokee were forced to march 950 miles to “Indian Territory” in present day Oklahoma. Retracing the northern route of the Trail of Tears by bicycle, Skylar Vann (L), Trey Pritchett (Center), and Brea Anderson (R) of the Cherokee Nation pause to commune with the hundreds of ancestors who suffered and died seeking refuge under the 188' arch during the harsh winter of 1838.