Overview: Oklahoma Freedmen were more than 20,000 people of African descent who were once enslaved, or the descendants of those who were enslaved in the Five tribal nations once called the Five Civilized Tribes. These tribes were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations. Many individuals in the nations participated in black chattel slavery and freed their slaves when the Treaty of 1866 was signed.
The Freedmen became citizens of those tribal nations, practiced the culture and lived under the laws of their respective tribes. Today, descendants of the Oklahoma Freedmen are the largest group of African Americans who can prove documented ties to Indian Nations. Unlike others who make claims about indigeneity, Oklahoma Freedmen have multiple records over numerous decades documenting their ties, without unproven oral claims of “who was here first” chatter that are popular. Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Tribes have proof with records and this track will teach others how to explore these records in-depth.
This track will explore the abundant records of the Five Tribes, including the Oklahoma Dawes Rolls, and the numerous pre-Dawes Records, some extending to the pre-removal days of the 1830s.
This workshop will contain the following:
An overview of Dawes Categories: -By Blood, -Freedmen, -New Born and -Mississippi Choctaw Records.
Pre Dawes Records: -1880 Authenticated Cherokee Census, -Dunn Roll 1867 and 1869, -Post Slavery Choctaw Records.
Equity Case 7071 Cases of Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen With Indian Parents.
Land Issues -Territory of Lincoln (Congressional bill to create an all black state). -Finding Land Allotments of Freedmen of Oklahoma.
This track will provide the most comprehensive overview of the history of documented black people and their ties to the five tribal nations.
