Final answer:
Native American tribes like the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole were forced from their ancestral homelands in the Southeast to Oklahoma due to the Indian Removal Act of 1830, facing the hardships of the Trail of Tears. Once in Oklahoma, their lands were often encroached upon by white settlers, reducing their reserved areas.
Step-by-step explanation:
Next, begin your research into the tribe you selected. Begin by identifying where the tribe's people came from before settling in Oklahoma. The Native American tribes that lived east of the Mississippi, such as the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, were autonomous and adapted to their specific environments with distinct cultures and societies. These tribes were forcibly relocated due to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 on a journey known as the Trail of Tears. They migrated from their ancestral homelands in the Southeast as a result of this act and pressures from white settlers expanding into the western United States.
Once in Oklahoma, often referred to as Indian Territory at the time, the tribes were promised autonomy over their new lands. However, these promises were broken, and the territory was opened up for white settlement, causing the tribal lands to decrease in size. Each tribe settled in different areas within what is now Oklahoma, adapting to new environmental conditions on the plains in contrast to their previous habitats in the fertile Southeast.