Day schools featured prominently during the boarding school-era. More than a century ago, thousands of Native children were taken from their families and forced into government or religiously run institutions. These children faced domestic and sexual abuse at these schools. Many died, and some bodies are still missing today.

The five properties stretch across five counties and are known as Ballou Day School, Mulberry Hollow Day School (also known as Rabbit Trap School), Oak Hill-Piney Day School, Oaks Mission Day School and Redbird Smith Day School. Together, they contain 84 acres of land.

The finalizing of the trust agreements and deed transfers marks another completed project under the tribe's 2023 Cherokee Nation Repatriation Project.

Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. says the long-term plan for these sites is to build places where rural citizens can gather and access resources.

“I think some of these are so rural that there wouldn't be an opportunity to put other types of investment in there, such as health care,” he said. “But there is an opportunity to do something important for community organizing, and that is a community building.”

Potential features of these projects include improving broadband internet access, elder services, language revitalization centers and community events.