| Summary: | Warrior Up! is a documentary series that follows Indigenous youth across Turtle Island who are standing up and making change, transforming their communities, their lands and their lives for the better. Episode 12: Oklahomans Desiree Mathews, 18, Jeanetta Leach, 22, Kayce O'Field, Emily Christie, and Madison Whitekiller, all 23, are about to start the ride of their lives. They're in the last week of training before they'll get on their bikes and follow the path of their Cherokee ancestors' forced removal more than 180 years earlier. Host Anna Lambe meets up with them as they embark on their epic three-week journey, stopping at historical sites along the Trail of Tears. At one location, it's the actual house where Desiree's fourth great-grandfather, Chief John Ross, once lived. Another stop brings the chance to sing a hymn in Cherokee at the campsite where a number of their ancestors died of exposure. The riders are dismayed by a sacred burial site hemmed in and forgotten by a shopping mall parking lot but feel buoyed at another stop by settler Americans fundraising to build a monument and park to keep the memory of the Forced Removal alive. And despite the great emotional ups and downs at each stop, the riders draw strength from each other on the first half of their trip.
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