Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died during the Trail of Tears March from NC, TN and GA to Oklahoma. The trails are depicted in this painting along with Sequoya's syllabary. Sequoya's syllabary enabled 90% literacy for the entire Cherokee Nation in less than 10 months. The syllabary words on this painting say: "Cherokee Nation" and "Trail Where They Cried". Sequoya was a Cherokee scholar and the only known Native American to invent an alphabet for his tribe.