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An Act Temporarily Providing for Such Persons as Have Been to the Present Time Considered as Slaves (1865) This law, which did not universally abolish slavery in the Choctaw Nation, regulated the way in which persons who had been previously enslaved in the nation were allowed to remain with their former enslavers. It also legally barred any Black enslaved person who escaped from bondage in the Choctaw Nation from "returning for the purpose of residing in the Nation."
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An Act to Adopt the Freedmen of the Choctaw Nation (1883)
This act enrolled Choctaw Freedpeople as citizens of the Choctaw Nation, seventeen years after their emancipation.
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An Act to Adopt the Negroes of the Chickasaw Nation (1873)
This tribal law, which was adopted by the Chickasaw Nation on January 10, 1873, called for the adoption of Chickasaw Freedmen as citizens of the Chickasaw Nation. The law included three primary stipulations for the adoption of Chickasaw Freedmen as tribal citizens: first, that Chickasaw Freedmen be excluded from any financial interests in the $300,000 the tribe would receive and any other tribal invested funds or claims; second, that despite these exclusions from monetary benefits, Chickasaw Freedmen be considered fully subject to the "jurisdiction and laws" of the Chickasaw Nation; and third, that the law would go into effect after being approved "by the proper authority of the United States." The law would not be approved by the U.S. Congress until 1894.
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Indian Territory Citizenship Act (1901)
This act amended section six of the Dawes Act to give United States citizenship to all Native Americans residing in Indian Territory.
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Letter from Nelson Harris to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1867)
In this letter, Choctaw Freedman Nelson Harris describes his treatment by the Choctaw Nation following the 1865 act. He draws upon the Treaty of 1866, asking for assistance in ensuring his rights to reside and work in the Choctaw Nation were respected.
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Letter from Thirteen Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen Pleading for Federal Assistance in Emancipating their Kin (1865)
This letter, formulated by a group of thirteen men who fled enslavement in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, details how Choctaw and Chickasaw enslavers continued to hold Black people in bondage. The letter includes a plea for federal assistance in ensuring the freedom of the authors' family members, an exhibit with the names and locations of eighty people who were still enslaved in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, and an accounting of how self-emancipated Black people were under threat of immediate death if they were to return to either nation.
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Memorial of the Freedmen of the Chickasaw Nation (1882)
This statement prepared by two Chickasaw Freedmen used clauses in Article 3 of the Treaty of 1866 to assert that Freedmen had the right to remain in the Chickasaw Nation despite not being formally adopted as citizens. They also demanded Chickasaw Freedmen be guaranteed the right to vote within the Chickasaw Nation.
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Statement of the Chickasaw Freedmen, Setting Forth Their Wrongs, Grievances, Claims and Needs (1894)
This statement prepared by members of the Committee of Chickasaw Freedmen's Association recounts how the Chickasaw Nation had not met its treaty obligations to Chickasaw Freedpeople.
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Sworn Affidavit of Alexander Harlin Regarding His Continued Enslavement Until the 1866 Treaty as Part of His Application for Enrollment as a Choctaw (1896)
In this sworn affidavit, Alexander Harlin attested that he, as a "Choctaw Freedman, of African Blood," was enslaved by a Choctaw woman Sarah Harlin until the Treaty of 1866 was signed. The statement was made in support of his application for enrollment in the Choctaw Nation under the Act of June 10, 1896 which authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls.
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Sworn Affidavit of Jeff Franklin Regarding His Enslavement and Emancipation in the Chickasaw Nation as Part of His Application for Enrollment as a Chickasaw (1896)
In this sworn affidavit, Jeff Franklin attested that he was a colored man and was enslaved by Easter Colber, a Chickasaw man until April 28th, 1866, when the Treaty of 1866 was signed. The statement was made in support of his application for enrollment in the Chickasaw Nation under the Act of June 10, 1896 which authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls. The affidavit also includes information about his continued residency in the Chickasaw Nation until the time of his application in 1896.
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Sworn Statement of W. L. Cochran as to the Enslavement of Margaret Clark in 1866 in Support of Her Application for Enrollment as a Choctaw (1896)
In this sworn statement, W. L. Cochran attested that Margaret Clark, "an African woman," was enslaved by R. L. Cochran in the Choctaw Nation until the Treaty of 1866 was signed. The statement was made in support of Margaret Clark's application for enrollment in the Choctaw Nation under the Act of June 10, 1896 which authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls.
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The Treaty of 1866 and the Long Fight for Black Belonging in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations
This module reframes histories of the Civil War, emancipation, and Reconstruction by analyzing how enslaved and freed Black people in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations struggled to actualize their freedoms amid contested tribal and federal jurisdictions. Ultimately, the module elucidates how Black enslaved and Freedpeople in the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations developed unique methods of resistance and visions of freedom shaped by the legal paradigms forged in the Treaty of 1866.
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Treaty with the Choctaw and Chickasaw (1866)
The 1866 Treaty with the Choctaw and Chickasaw was one of a series of treaties between the United States government and each of the "Five Civilized Tribes" (the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole Nations) at the end of the Civil War. The treaty details the stipulations for the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations to re-establish their allegiance with the U.S. after allying with the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Among other provisions, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty of 1866 included articles that outlawed slavery within both nations (except as a punishment for crime), provided a pathway for citizenship and civil rights for the Freedmen of both nations, and ceded lands to the United States.