The Trail of Tears was a forced westward migration of American Indian tribes from the South and Southeast of the United States between 1830 and 1850. The forced relocation was a result of land grabs that threatened tribes throughout the South and Southeast. The term "Trail of Tears" is most commonly used in reference to the removal experiences of the Southeast Indians generally and the Cherokee nation specifically. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears" because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march, and over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died. The Trail of Tears records the Cherokees’ journey from its beginning, routes along the way, campsites, and the gravesites and disbandment sites that mark the end of the journey. The physical trail consisted of several overland routes and one main water route and stretched some 5,045 miles across portions of nine states. The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes". The forced relocation caused the loss of ancient connections to homelands and sacred sites, the deaths of upward of 25 percent of those on the trail, and the loss of life-sustaining livestock and crops. In 1987, the U.S. Congress designated the Trail of Tears as a National Historic Trail in memory of those who had suffered and died during removal.