How did Cherokee Nation v. Georgia affect the Cherokee Nation's legal efforts against removal?

In the 1831 case Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation lacked the legal standing to sue the state of Georgia in federal court. Chief Justice John Marshall determined that because Indigenous nations were "domestic dependent nations"—meaning they relied on the United States for political protection—they did not qualify as independent foreign nations with the right to bring such a lawsuit.12

This decision was a significant setback for the Cherokee Nation’s legal efforts to resist removal, as it effectively closed the federal judiciary to their claims against state encroachment. By denying the tribe standing, the Court avoided ruling on the merits of Georgia's attempts to impose state laws on Cherokee territory.1

While the subsequent 1832 ruling in Worcester v. Georgia later affirmed that states had no jurisdiction over tribal lands, President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce that decision. Consequently, the legal challenges failed to prevent the forced removal of the Cherokee people, which culminated in the Trail of Tears.312