The Potawatomi Trail of Death honored with a week-long ride from Indiana to Kansas

DANVILLE, Ill. (WAND) - Back in the 1800s the Potawatomi Tribe was forced out of Northern Indiana and to Eastern Kansas.

Over a century later, descendants took that same trail to pay homage to their ancestors. Participants made a stop in Danville before hitting the road again.

"We didn't lose as many people as the Cherokee did on the Trail of Tears. I have to look upon the removal from Indiana as basically a death of a culture," said Potawatomi Trail of Death Association President, George Godfrey.

Godfrey assembled a committee of people in the 1980s to attend the trail and to pay their respects. Godfrey is a descendant of members in the tribe, and knew it was the right thing to do. Now, he's helping others do the same.

"I want them to leave with the idea that is there some way that I can work with other people so that those people can be understood and respected," said Godfrey.

Although they choose to drive the trail now, that didn't stop Bishop Douglas Sparks from Northern Indiana from walking the trail last year.

"I wanted to raise the awareness among the people that I had the privilege of serving in Northern Indiana to sort of draw attention to the actions of our forebears," said Douglas.

According to a map on the Citizen Potawatomi Nation website, the march went through Danville, Sidney, Monticello, Decatur, Springfield, and Jacksonville.

The walk is set to end on Saturday in Kansas.