Cherokee Freedmen
Many indigenous peoples practiced captive taking and slavery prior to contact with Europe. By the nineteenth century, some southeastern Indians developed chattel slavery. In a pernicious paradox, treating other human beings as property became a way for Native nations to demonstrate their civilization. The Civil War and Reconstruction transformed the politics of race and nation in Indian Territory. In 1866, the U.S. government forced the Cherokees, among others, to enfranchise their emancipated slaves, referred to as “Freedmen.” The creation of tribal rolls, allotment, and the distribution of monetary awards from claims cases brought the meaning of citizenship back to the fore during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Were Cherokee Freedmen, in the absence of kin relations, entitled to the same rights and entitlements as Cherokees who were citizens “by blood?” And who possessed the power to decide? In this memorial submitted to Congress in 1913, the Cherokee Freedmen provided their response to those questions. Consider whether their reckoning of citizenship delineated race from nation.24
To the Congress of the United States:
We, the undersigned, representing the Cherokee freedmen who have been wrongfully excluded from the final rolls of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, do hereby memorialize Congress to enact legislation which will protect us in the rights guaranteed us under treaties between the United States and said nation, under the laws of Congress, and the rules and regulations of the Interior Department, and the decisions of the courts.
By the act of Congress of June 10, 1896 (the Indian appropriation bill), the rolls of citizenship of the several tribes, as they then existed, were confirmed, yet a number of our people whose names appear upon the various rolls have been denied their rights.25
Under the act of June 28, 1898, the Commission to the Five Tribes was directed as follows: “It shall make a roll of Cherokee freedmen in strict compliance with the decree of the Court of Claims rendered the 3d day of February, 1896.”
The direction was plain and simple, yet it was not obeyed.
The court in this opinion clearly set out the rights of the Cherokee freedmen, and we call your attention the following extract: “Said commissioners, in ascertaining the identity of the freedmen entitled to share under this decree, shall accept what is known as the authenticated Cherokee roll, the same being on file in the office of the Secretary of the Interior, having been furnished to him, and purporting to have been taken by the Cherokee Nation in 1880, for the purpose of showing the number of freedmen entitled at that time to citizenship in said nation ***and their descendants.”
The Secretary of Interior in his letter of instructions told the commission what it should do, and had the commission followed the law and his instructions there would have been no trouble, but the commission did neither. He informed them that “The roll of 1880 made by the Cherokee Nation is to be accepted by you as conclusive of the rights of all persons whose names are found thereon and of their descendants to be enrolled by you, ***no evidence was to be accepted tending to disprove the citizenship of any person whose name was upon the roll of 1880.”26
Notwithstanding the decree of the court and the strong language of the Secretary, the commission did fail and neglect to properly place upon the final roll the names of a number of freedmen who were on the 1880 roll. Many of the freedmen whose names were on that roll and their descendants have been and still are wrongfully denied membership in said nation, and they will lose their valuable rights unless some action is taken by Congress. There can be no reasonable excuse offered for the neglect of the Commission to the Five Tribes, for it was fully instructed what to do in regard to the Cherokee freedmen. . . .
Many of the people have lived in the Cherokee Nation all their lives, some of them have occupied and cultivated the same tract of land for from 30 to 40 years, and some were permitted to make tentative selections. They have raised stock and crops, built houses and barns, have developed the agricultural wealth of the Cherokee country. They have voted, held office, and exercised all the rights of citizenship. They applied for enrollment within the time fixed by law. All of them have been enrolled once as citizens and many of them twice by the Government, and these rolls have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and many of them at various payments, were paid as members of the Cherokee Nation of Indians.
The act of Congress provided for the removal of intruders; none of these freedmen were disturbed.
Under the act of June 28, 1898, authority was given to the chief or to any member of the tribe to bring suits against any person holding wrongful possession of lands in the Cherokee country, yet no action was brought against any of your petitioners. Under the act of 1902 the Secretary was to cause allottees to be placed in possession, but the Secretary did not remove the freedmen claimants. This shows how they were regarded before the final rolls were made up and before they were wrongfully left off of the final rolls, which will deprive them of their interest in the tribal property, and they will be driven from the homes they have occupied for years, and others will be deprived from making their rightful selections.
By reason of valuable oil and gas deposits in the lands, which by rights belong to your petitioners, the same—worth many millions of dollars—we will lose, also be deprived of other property, and our homes if Congress does not give us relief.
We are satisfied that the records of the Interior Department cover all the facts, and that the questions involved could be settled fairly and justly within a very short time.
We therefore pray Congress to give us a chance to present our cases to a committee of Congress, to any court, or to the Secretary of the Interior. We know that we can establish our rights, and we are only asking for just and fair treatment.