The African-Native American Genealogy Blog

Examining the First Draft of the Choctaw Freedmen Dawes Roll

2012-02-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Early Roster of Choctaw Freedman Roll

This early roster represents the hand written copy made before the Final Roll was Compiled.

Those who use the Dawes Records often see references on the Enrollment cards that the enrollees' names appeared on earlier rolls. However, one does not always see the names of the Final Dawes enrollees on the first draft copy from which the Final Rolls were made. It is worth exploring such documents to learn more about the family and when they enrolled in in some cases with whom they went to the Dawes Commission.

Before the final roll was compiled, a hand-written copy of the roll was made. These were entries made in ledgers of those Freedmen applicants who had been approved to have their names placed on the final rolls. And interestingly, in some cases the names appeared on the Final Roll in exactly the same sequence as they appeared on the First Draft.

The following example can be noted. Polly Ann Eliza Miller, and Davis Frazier both young people, appeared on Choctaw Freedman Cards 670 and 671 respectively.

National Archives Publication M1186

Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes Reel 51

Choctaw Nation, Choctaw Freedman Card Nos.670 and 671

Both were born well after slavery had ended in the Choctaw Nation, so no slaveholder is listed on their cards. However, the parental data reflects who their parents were, and who the Indian slave owner of their parents were. See reverse side below:

Reverse side of Freedmen Cards, reflecting parents and slaveholders of parents

(National Archives Publication M1186

Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes Reel 51

Choctaw Nation, Choctaw Freedman Card Nos.670 and 671)

Polly's parents were Jackson Crow and Jane Crow. Davis's parents were Silas and Indiana Frazier.

Jackson Crow, Polly's father, was a slave of Choctaw Nail Perry. Davis Frazier's father was not a slave, but was a Choctaw Indian named Silas Frazier. Davis Frazier's mother was Indiana Frazier and she was a slave of Sophia Perry.*

The two have cards that are close in number and although at first glance they might appear to be unrelated family history indicated that they were in actuality cousins. Nail Perry was the patriarch of the Perry clan that lived in Sugar Loaf, County of the Choctaw Nation, and he was also a witness in each case involving the slaves held by the Perry family. Nail Perry was the son and Hardy and Sophia Perry.

Both Polly and Davis, not only had enrollment cards close in number, they were listed on the hand roster together as well.

On the First Draft of the Freedmen Roll, Polly Miller and Davis Frazier were actually listed together

Both had been interviewed on the same day and it is known by family that they were part of the same family clan (Perry's, Fraziers and Waltons) There is also the likelihood that the two of them went to the Commission at the same time. Both had, in fact had their names put on their enrollment cards on the same date, June 6, 1899.

The value of looking at the earliest document that eventually led to the creation of the Final Rolls can she light on the enrollment process, and even give a glimpse into the movement of the officials of the Dawes Commission. One can also learn when the Dawes Commissioners visited the various communities, throughout the Territory.

My gr. grandparents were on Choctaw Freedmen Card No. 777

(National Archives Publication M1186

Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes

Choctaw Nation, Choctaw Freedman Card No. 777)

I was pleased to also find them on the original First Draft Copy of the Choctaw Freedman Roll:

The same Walton family appeared also on the first draft of the Freedman Roll

The early draft is also useful, as they occasionally contain notes about the family or in some cases the slave holder and their estate. In the image above there is a reference to J.D. Davis and his heirs. On the official Enrollment Card, the slaveholder is simply listed as Jim Davis. This small difference might provide a small clue to another record set that may hold data with further research.

Although the genealogical data presented on the First Draft Roster of the Freedman Roll, will rarely differ, it is still useful to see the names of the approved applicants on the that first draft roll. It would be this roll upon which subsequent decisions would also be made.

As genealogists we must look for all possible resources, including early drafts of the Final Rolls.

* Sophia Perry was the mother to Nail Perry who would frequently vouch for the Waltons and the inter-related families.

"I have a dream that one day...the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

2012-01-16T12:39:00.000-08:00

Angela Walton-Raji & Colin Kelley

A Choctaw Freedman Descendant and an enrolled Choctaw who descends

from the Choctaw slaveholder of her ancestors

(Source: Photo taken by Tonia Holleman in her home in western Arkansas)

I met the descendant of the Choctaw slaveholder of my ancestors in 2010. Two years ago, this month will mark the anniversary of my meeting with a man who found me. I received an email from a gentleman living in Oklahoma who saw my name in an historical journal. His letter was brief and to the point. He was a descendant of Nail Perry.

I was stunned. I knew that name--Nail Perry had contact with my ancestors--my ancestors who lived in the Choctaw Nation. Same and Sallie Walton had lived in Indian Territory as slaves. Sallie, my gr. grandmother was a person whom I knew in my lifetime, and I had loved her for she was the face of kindness, wisdom and love in my tender young years. I was 9 years old when she passed and hers is a face that still smiles at me from the old photographs in my home.

Sallie Walton, Choctaw Freedman

Source: Personal Family Collection

But Nail Perry---this was different. I knew his name from family records. When I found the family file in the Dawes Records, his name appeared. He testified at the Dawes Commission interview on behalf of Sam and Sallie Walton, and he spoke about Sallie's mother being a slave in his family.

Partial Testimony of Nail Perry in front of Dawes Commission

National Archives Publication Number: M1301 Choctaw Freedman File No. 777

Nail Perry's name appeared in other family documents between the 1880s and 1900s.

So back in 2009 when I received the email from Mr. Kelley. We exchanged emails and since that time, we have spoken several times. And in 2010, while I was on a trip to western Arkansas, he drove to pick up another cousin and they both came to meet me. Mr. Kelley arrived with documents, and we shared records, and talked. Our meeting was a pleasant one, and we have a relationship that continues to this day.

Meeting Nail Perry Descendant Colin Kelley

Photo taken by Tonia Holleman

I think about that meeting often, and I am especially appreciative because it was he who found me. There are many stories of African Americans who have met the descendants of slaveholders. This meeting however, was historic---it is probably one of the first meetings of a Native American slaveholder descendant who on his own initiative, reached out to one whose ancestors were enslaved in his family. We did meet, and yes, history was made on that day.

On this day that we honor a man who had a dream that such meetings were possible, I think that not only are such meetings possible, but so are so many more good things possible! I am so glad that Dr. King had a dream and he expressed his dream to the world.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Two Sheets of Paper

2012-01-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Source: Personal Collection

As child I would often look at the old plat map above and simply wonder what it was and why it was saved. It existed for decades between the pages of an old family bible, folded and carefully tucked in between the pages. It was the only document that was in the family that actually had my gr. grandmother Sallie's name on it. Years later I would eventually come to appreciate this simple piece of paper and how it told a story.

My great grandmother Sallie Walton, was born in the Choctaw Nation in 1863 and she died in 1961 at the age of 98. Hers was a long life well lived. She left only a few things behind. There were a handful of photographs, an old family Bible and some hand made quilts.

But the old family Bible held the most, for it left some clues about her history and her past both on the pages and also between the pages.

Sallie Walton 1863-1961

The old plat map above was always found neatly folded between the pages in the old bible. And when I was a child I would often pull the Bible off the shelves, unfold it stare at the words "Choctaw Nation" stamped on it, and wonder what her early life was like.

I would not realize for many years that this small plat map would be the only original piece of paper that we had with her name on it. So what could be learned from what she left behind? Well, there were clues--right there on that sheet. The sheet was a plat map, and it pertained to property. The document illustrated her ties to the land, and to the Choctaw Nation.

Closer Image of Plat Map

The document also had her name written clearly on it:

The only document that bore Sallie's name was this old plat map

A second piece of paper, was also kept between the pages of the old Bible. This was a small sheet from a tiny table with the letters and numbers almost faded into the yellowed sheet would also hold information for me.

Small slip of paper with hand-written note also found in the family bible.

Source: Personal Collection

Written in pencil, and fading into the yellowed pages were a few words. Sallie's was name followed by a few numbers and a reference to someone's age, presumably hers. The name was barely legible, "Sallie Walton" followed by some numbers--3-9-4-8. Or was it supposed to be 3-7-4-8? It was hard to tell. But what did the numbers mean? This would remain a mystery for three decades.

In 1991, on a trip to the National Archives, I began the search for my gr. grandmother's history. There, within a set of records known as Dawes Records, I found a document with the family name.

Dawes Card, Sam & Sallie Walton

Source: National Archive Publication M1186, Choctaw Freedman Card 777

(Document can also be found on Fold3 as Image: 260|225730220)

This document was an Enrollment Card made in application for a land allotment with the Dawes Commission. Sam and Sallie Walton made their application in 1899. On that card much information is recorded, but upon examination of the card something was familiar:

The number 3748 was Sallie Walton's Dawes Roll Number

There was the number--3-7-4-8. It was the number inscribed on the small piece of paper. The family's application was approved and that number was her official Dawes Roll number! That was an aha moment!! Of course she never wanted to forget the number--it was the number that made her eligible for privileges as a citizen in the Choctaw Nation and most importantly, the number that also made her eligible for a land allotment.

It all made sense--it was folded neatly in the family Bible, because it was important. The Bible had names and dates of her children, it contained information on her second marriage, it reflected the deaths of loved ones, and it also held her precious Dawes Roll number.

So I began to study the documents. I always thought of the document reverently, because like a hand from another dimension, that red arrow on that plat map was the compass pointing to a part of the family's past.

And on the bottom of that page, her name would appear. For many years, this was the only document that we ever had with her name written upon it.

Bottom portion of plat map

Long after her death, these two pieces of paper held the keys that unlocked parts of her past. I appreciated the fact that she kept them, even if decades later, she no longer held the land. I would frequently look at these documents and study them, and they would often be on my mind. It was finally these two pieces of paper that nudged me to see if I could document more of the family's history, and if these documents would lead me to something about our history. They did.

Something made my gr. grandmother Sallie hold on to those documents as if she wanted someday someone to know that she had a tie to the land and to the Nation and that this was a part of her life. I am so glad that she did.

By the time she died in 1961, Sallie no longer held the land, and she died in Arkansas. But she left behind the precious items that mattered.

And as simple as a small piece of paper might be, these two pieces of paper opened doors to the family history.

Freedmen Neighborhood School Rosters, Choctaw Nation

2011-12-12T16:51:00.000-08:00

Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit Salt Lake City to attend the 2006 AAHGS Conference. While in Salt Lake I was also able to take advantage of the Family History Center and to use some records that I do not have access to in Maryland.

These were school records from the Choctaw Nation. My interest specifically was in possibly locating names of children who attended the Freedmen Neighborhood Schools. To my delight there were rosters of students from several schools. My interest was Skullyville County, a community where my gr. grandparents Sam and Sallie Walton lived.

I found five such schools. These schools were created specifically for children of the former slaves in the Choctaw Nation--the Choctaw Freedm

The schools were established after they had been officially adopted by the Choctaw Nation, into the tribe, in 1885. The nations had agreed to the adoption of the Freedmen after the Civil War and was one of the terms of the Treaty of 1866. After a good amount of resistance occurred initially and a lengthy discussion of funds (over $300,000 ) was allocated to the Choctaw and Chickasaws to be used for Freedmen matters. After adoption took place, the question arose again as it had since emancipation---how can education be provided for these African-Choctaw children?

It was decided that neighborhood schools be established within the nation, to provide education for the children. I was pleased to find several pages reflecting names of children, of teachers and of the superintendents of several schools among some of the records.

I was particularly happy to see the name of my grandfather---Samuel Walton Jr. on one of the school rosters as well!

The schools were Cedar Grove, Clarksville, Dog Creek, Ft. Coffee, and Opossum Creek Schools. The records are by no means complete as they do not reflect many consecutive years and they were not year-round records. They are mere rosters--but yet they still tell a story of the children who were earnestly seeking to learn.

The only community that still exists today is Ft.Coffee, Oklahoma an historically black town that was recently incorporated a few years ago as an official township in LeFlore County. Ft. Coffee lies in extreme eastern Oklahoma, not far from the Arkansas/Oklahoma border. I am happy to share some of the rosters here.

The population in the Cedar Grove area was a diverse one where some of the children were citizens of the Chickasaw Nation and as well as Choctaw Nation. (A notation of the bottom of the roster indicated that some of the children attending Cedar Grove school with crossmarks near their names, were Chickasaw Freedmen.)

Near the top of the Cedar Grove Roster, the Boyd Children are Chickasaw Freedmen,

indicated by the crossmarks near their names.

When the schools operated, each month the teacher and superintendent would prepare attendance rosters and submit them to the County offices of the Nation.These monthly school rosters were filed by the teacher and trustee, with the County Judge. The document above was filed with Ed Lanier, county judge of Skullyville County and also signed by him.

* * * * * *

Clarksville Neighborhood School was smaller in student enrollment. All of the children in this school were Choctaw Freedmen:

Staff of Clarksville Neighborhood School

Some of the descendants of Battese families are fully enrolled citizens of the Chickasaw Nation.

Roster of Children in Clarksville Neighborhood School

* * * * *

Staff of Dog Creek Neighborhood School. These names are still known among LeFlore County families. Moses Parker also oversaw the affairs of another Freedman School. (see below)

* * * * *

Ft. Coffee Neighborhood School was in the one community that still exists today. However, like the other schools, the buildings no longer stand.

The two staff members, were Moses Parker and Squire Hall.

These names are still spoken in Ft. Coffee today where their descendants reside.

Roster of Students from 1896

I was pleasantly surprised on one of the pages for the Ft. Coffee School, to see my grandfather's name among the students.

Page reflecting the name of my grandfather Samuel when he was a small child

attending the Choctaw Neighborhood School, in Skullyville

* * * * *

Opposum Creek Neighborhood School

Roster of Students from Opposum Creek Neighborhood Scohols

Although all of these schools are gone and the landscape reflects nothing of their having been there. Thankfully a few pages of school records remain to assist us with telling the story.

* * * * *

Salt Creek - A Freedman School in Indian Territory

Source: Archives & Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

Acts in Regards to Negroes, Free and Enslaved in the Cherokee & Choctaw Nations

2011-12-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

I believe that the beginning of healing comes from truly looking at the policies of the past.

I recently came across the words of William Goodell and his writings. I came across some of the policies that would have had direct impact on the lives of my ancestors living in bondage in Indian Territory. It was important to read them and to learn the lessons by knowing these things.

William Goodell was an abolitionist, a missionary and a reformer. Educated at Phillips Academy, he worked ardently through much of his life for the abolition of the institution of slavery. He studied the laws and slave codes throughout the country, wrote a detailed book in 1853 called, "The American Slave Code" and the included in his work were slave codes and policies enacted in Indian Territory.

Surprisingly he included some specific tribal policies of the Cherokee and Choctaw nation in his 1853 book, analyzing slave codes throughout the nations, the details obtained from the constitutions of these two tribes provide a sobering insight into the realities of slavery in Indian Territory.

William Goodell, Abolitionist and Author

In his work, he illustrated the policies of the tribes, by using language from the constitution of the two nations, employing the language of acts passed into law.

In the appendix he focuses on the two tribes:

"...all free women except the Africa race"

"...punishment not to exceed fifty stripes...."

Some aspects of intermarriage were considered acceptable and were considered worthy of legalizing as seen below. Meanwhile there were also major restrictions placed upon those few who were free in the Territory and also of slaves.

Like the policies of the deep south, reading and education of slaves and also of free blacks was strictly forbidden.

"...leave the limits of the nation by the 1st of Jan. 1843."

Within the Choctaw Nation there were similar restrictions. Free blacks were not encouraged to settle in the community.

Abolitionists were clearly not welcomed in Choctaw country, and those showing sympathy towards blacks by breaking bread or kindly human interaction were frowned upon and such activities were clearly stated in tribal policies about such interactions.

There was some acknowledgement that there were persons of color who had blood ties to both Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. However, those free people of color with no blood ties were informed that they had to leave the nation.

I have often wondered about any slaves who may have gained freedom while being in the nations, what their fate may have been like. Goodall reveals that it became tribal policy that if there were any who were manumitted by their slave holders, they had to leave out of fear of being re-sold into bondage.

What to Make of These Passages

Reading these passages is sobering but enlightening. It is clear that the "peculiar" institution of slavery was legally sanctioned into tribal culture after the nations had survived the harshness of the removal. Were all of these policies actually carried out? That is not certain. Perhaps some were in the early years after their passage, however, after the Civil War, there were clearly persons more persons of color in both tribes, who shared the blood of their masters, who had social relationships with tribal members, and who remained in the only land they knew as home.

Today in 21st century American what does one make of these policies? They provide some understanding of tribal policies today.

These sentiments of 160 years ago, provided the backdrop of "blood politics" still practiced to this day. These passages show how the dismissal of persons of African descent was viewed as somehow "logical" in the mind of the racial politician.

Today, blood policies that allow persons with less than a droplet of blood (e.g. 1/1000th and less) to be considered "connected" and "legitimate", illustrate that the concept and practice of discrimination towards those once enslaved, is still somehow "normal". These raced-based policies are still considered logical in their way of thinking. And as this has been shown, for this practice has a precedent, going back 160 years.

To the raced based politician and lobbyist, it is no matter to them that in spite of the fact that those who were once enslaved were immersed into the tribe by language, by their life's toil----their mere presence---the logic of their expulsion and their mistreatment has a precedent and still feeds into the logic of the racial political mind.

To the racial politician they feel that this is somehow ok. Furthermore, the concept that those once enslaved are somehow illegitimate and dispensable is embraced as has been witnessed in recent years. This is a way of thinking that goes back over 160 years. It ties to a southern slave holding mentality that prevails.

But there may be some enlightened who dare to ask the pertinent questions, but it should be remembered that the beginning of healing comes from truly looking at the policies of the past.

I hope that someday, my brothers and sisters from Indian Country will someday take a look at the past, understand the impact of the past and understand that we all need to grow and move forward. We share the same landscape for our history and we are all strengthened when we walk together. So as we read these texts, we grow and our journey takes a better direction.

Look at the policies of the past..

Read them.

Acknowledge that they occurred.

And grow from them.

We all benefit from that growth, not a portion, not a selected portion -- all of the family grows.

Remember, it was not until 100 years after the Civil War that the US finally began to make the sons and daughters of it own slaves, full citizens--and that was a mere 40 years ago. And here we are145 years after the Treaty of 1866 was signed---the fate of the descendants of former slaves of Indians is still be addressed by the slave holding tribes.

When do the slave owner's children decide that some sentiments can and should be changed?

Perhaps true healing can now come when the descendants of slave holders, and policy makers address their own history-- for that is when true healing begins.

The children and grandchildren of the enslaved hold no bitterness in their hearts, and in fact often find themselves surprised to learn that these sentiments from the tribes still prevail.

Hands have been extended, yet are there hands reaching back from the tribes?

Only by acknowledging the past and working towards a new future can a "nation" truly progress.

Forgotten Days of Early Oklahoma - The Negro State Fair

2011-11-22T21:04:00.000-08:00

From the years before statehood till the mid 1900s there were a number of events that were frequently attended by the Oklahoma African American community. For many decades, families from the Freedmen communities of Indian Territory and later Oklahoma, celebrated Freedom and emancipation in early August. Another event was the Negro State Fair. In the early 1900s after statehood, Jim Crow was made legal when Senate Bill #1 was passed. But the African American community still lived and worked within those limitations to work and find time also to celebrate life. One such even was the Negro State Fair. By 1915 such events occurred frequently. But prior to that, many blacks from the new state of Oklahoma looked to Texas for inspiration for such fairs. A decade earlier a Negro state fair was a much anticipated event in Bonham Texas as well, and many families from Oklahoma are said to have frequented those four day events as well.

The events consisted of festivals, parades, music and rodeo expositions for the amusement of the spectators and visitors.

In 1920, the Tulsa Star, a black newspaper from Tulsa Oklahoma widely advertised the Oklahoma based Negro State fair. The sponsor of the event was J. Coody Johnson, the well known attorney and advocate for Seminole Freedmen.

J. Coody Johnson

Courtesy: Oklahoma Historical Society

A resident of Wewoka, the event was held on Johnson's property along the state highway outside of the city limits. As this was a four day event, the state superintendent of education allowed the "colored" schools to be closed so that school children could also participate in this event.

Tulsa Star October 9, 1920

Events for this fair consisted of exhibitions, rodeo events and a unique treat----airplane rides for those who wished to experience flight!

Portion of article about Negro State Fair

Source: Tulsa Star October 9, 1920 Page 2

It should be noted that the 1920 event was not the first such fair. Several years prior to Coody Johnson's sponsored fair there were similar events held in Muskogee in 1915 and 1917.

As indicated on the flyer for the Muskogee event, a parade through Muskogee was planned. In a rare piece of film footage depicting Oklahoma black life in the 20th century, one can get a glimpse of the Muskogee parade.

Film Footage Showing Glimpse of Muskogee Parade

Source: GlobalImageWorks Video

Although times have changed over the past century, that such events no longer have to be racially segregated, one should still take note of the efforts when people who were legally sanctioned from many public events, struggled to entertain each other within those boundaries established by law. They were and still are those who resisted, remained and thrived.

Our History Has No Shame

2011-11-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

If one has been reading the papers, there has been a flurry of articles from the mainstream press as well as the Indian press. All refer to the current issues of the rights of Cherokee Freedmen. These are people who have a documented tie to the Cherokee Nation. These are people that many in Tahlequah wish would disappear, but at last, their existence is becoming known. Their ties in fact are well documented. There is the Dawes Roll--but there are three additional rolls depicting black Cherokees before that. (see below) And decades before the Dawes Rolls were created, there were several hundred slaves taken west on the Trail of Tears.

This history is the very reason why such headlines appear in the press today. The descendants of those slaves---whose taxes pay for their very own discrimination, are speaking out against their exclusion and treatment. Many are writing about the subject, and for some, the argument is simply put by Professor Carla Pratt, of Penn State University:

What Does a Slave-holding People Owe to the Those They Enslaved?

Professor Carla Pratt, Dickinson College of Law

To many, the story in the headlines in recent months has been a story that is complex and confusing.

To others, this is a story where those who were enslaved, lived within a community, were later freed, and now ostracized by the community where they were enslaved. To others this is a latent struggle for civil rights.

For many, this is a source of surprise and shock, because much public sympathy is given to Cherokees and sad stories about their sufferings on the Trail of Tears are well known.

But now it is becoming widely known that this same group enslaved others, and now 140 years later---some wish to have nothing to do with the descendants of those slaves--citing an "invasion" of now "non-tribal" people who have no rights, and who should never have rights. There are fears that including this portion of people who were in the Territory from the years of removal to the present, will somehow make their nation weak.

The press has covered this story with a variation of headlines and reactions. Some will call it blatantly racist. Others will point out the injustices of how a tribe receiving Federal funds, and those same funds paid for by taxpayers---including Freedmen descendants---are now used to prevent descendants of the tribe's former slaves from being considered a part of the nation where their ancestors continued to live.

The story is a broad one that covers not only one, but of FIVE tribes of Oklahoma. Those tribes known as the Five "Civilized" Tribes, by some, and the Five Slave-holding Tribes, by others, were removed to Indian Territory years before the Civil War. (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations) But what is not known is that slaves---African slaves---from the American South were taken westward with them. These slaves were not friends, or wards, or people "taken in" as many wish to hear. These people were enslaved, auctioned for, purchased, traded, bartered for and sold.

The ugly side of America's past also stains the histories of these tribes, although to date, none of these tribes, nor their "official histories" even admit that it took place.

However, there are records---thousands of them, that tell another story---and these records rest in many places.

One hears about the Dawes Rolls---but before that there was the Kern Clifton Roll. Before that there was the Wallace Roll. Before that there was the 1880 Authenticated Cherokee Roll. Before that there were the federal records---the 1860 Slave Schedules, and before that there were the hundreds of Cherokee slaves taken west on the Trail of Tears.

There is an abundance of documents, and the records are worth studying and the story is well worth telling.

Kern Clifton Roll of Cherokee Freedmen was compiled before the Dawes Roll

Wallace Roll was created before the Kern-Clifton Roll and the Dawes Roll

Barbara Benge Documented the 1880 Authenticated Cherokee Census in her book published by Heritage Books

Thankfully the records and the press are slowly unraveling the secret of the stories of 7,000 plus slaves from Indian Territory, and their descendants.

And Genealogists as well as hsitroian historians are telling so much more. One historian Dr. Tiya Miles who has begun to tell the stories of the slaves of Cherokees was recently awarded the esteemed MacArthur Award--the genius grant for telling this little known chapter in American history. The lesson for us all is to tell the story and to study the records, old and new and insure that this significant part of history will no longer be hidden.

Those of us who descend from those who were enslaved must remember---our history has no shame. The shame comes in not telling the story.

Whether descendants of the enslaved or the slave holder, withholding this story dishonors the ancestors and dishonors the past, it creates disharmony in the present and it also threatens the future.

We honor all of our ancestors by telling their story. Descendants of slaves are now discovering this story and telling it. Descendants of Indian slave holders .....some are acknowledging it, some are resisting it, but like all battles for integrity, that which is correct, shall prevail.

Let us chose to honor our ancestors---all of them.

Chief Ward Coachman and the McGilbray Freedmen

2011-10-25T00:43:00.000-07:00

Source of image: Oklahoma Historical Society

Studying the history of Indian Territory Freedmen is an endeavor that requires that one explore the presence of the Freedmen in their respective nations after slavery was abolished in the tribes. Citizenship was established by Treaty and each tribe signed the Treaty of 1866, and the former slaves were given the privileges of citizenship. Whether this citizenship was recognized varied from place to place, and from person to person. One can glean from the remarks of Chief Ward Coachman, in 1877, that the presence of Freedmen was not one entirely embraced by everyone in the community. However it does appear that this leader recognized the rights of citizenship to be held among Freedmen who had continued to live among Creek people.

Who was Ward Coachman? He was elected second chief of the Creeks in 1875 and not long afterwards, he became Principal Chief when Lochar Harjo had been impeached and removed from office. His tenure was short and he served only three years.

In 1877, on October 1st, he made an address to the House of Warriors and the House of Kings, addressing affairs of the tribe.

Source: Oklahoma Historical Society

He addressed the status of education for the children in the tribe, the state of the economy which was an agricultural one, and he also addressed the rights of all of the people of the tribe, including the Freedmen, and a group to which he referred to as "The McGilbray Freedmen."

Source: Oklahoma Historical Society

The statements made by this Principal Chief are clear and are one of the few times that one will find words from a tribal chief of the former slave-holding tribes, that address the rights of their former slaves to remain and live fully as citizens. He particularly recognized, that if necessary, "some action be had recognizing the rights of all who under the treaty are entitled to citizenship and equal rights and privileges with us."

Although times have changed in a dramatic way over the past century, the wisdom and sense of equity expressed by this leader of the Muscogee people should be read again, and there might be lessons from which many can learn and grow during these times of contention.

Enrollment Card of one of the McGilbray Freedmen

Black Slaves Red Masters Part 3

2011-09-19T11:24:00.001-07:00

Black Slaves Red Masters, Part 2

2011-09-19T11:23:00.001-07:00

Black Slaves, Red Masters Part 1

2011-09-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is part 1 of a video created by journalist and anchor Sam Ford, now of Washington DC. Mr. Ford is a descendant of Cherokee Freedmen.

The Freedmen Series - A Video Series

2011-09-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Freedmen Series

This video series will consist of 6 parts examining the rich genealogical records available to researchers whose history resides on the soil of what became Oklahoma in 1907.

From the 1830s onward, thousands of African ancestored people resided in Indian Territory. Some arrived as free people, but most lived and died enslaved.

The series will examine unique records before and during the Dawes years, and will also look at records reflecting the free people, the slaveholders and efforts extending to Congress, all of which hold rich genealogical data for scholars to examine and tell an untold story.

What a Difference A Century Can Make: 1903 - 2011

2011-08-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Black & Red Journal

Source: Eufaula Indian Journal, August 28, 1903, p. 8, column 2

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(click here)

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Removal of Freedmen - Official & Ongoing since 1938

2011-08-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

The recent actions this week of the Cherokee Nation to remove the Cherokee Freedmen once again, and just prior to a runoff election of a chief who has worked diligently for their removal brings back interesting memories of days of segregation, voting rights and voting prevention by those in power.

However, looking at historical records, it is also clear that such sentiments have interesting origins emanating from the Bureau of Indian Affairs over 70 years ago.

There was a fear that Freedmen-descendants of slaves held by the Five Tribes would eventually outnumber the other members of the tribe--and so to prevent any power to emerge from Freedmen and their descendants, official anti-black policies were established by the BIA, and expressed in written documents.

This sentiment was a national one, was one in which persons with African Ancestry regardless of other mixtures in their lineage--were to be excluded systematically and officially in all aspects of American life. This was warmly embraced in the Five Slaveholding Tribes.

The actions of exclusion in 2011 are merely following a seven-decades old policy that is now perceived to be logical, in spite of its illogical and illegal nature.

Further documents from the BIA:

The most interesting documents reflect the numbers that the BIA had presented as the current population of Freedmen. Keeping in mind that this document was created in the 1930s, in the years prior to World War II, it appears that until that time, the numbers of Freedmen descendants was still being kept. They had significantly grown since the numbers admitted during the years of the Dawes Commission.

There is a tremendous lesson, in particular the need to learn the history and the facts that reflect the efforts of the descendants of former slaves from Five Tribes which held them in bondage and their efforts to find a place and meaning in a land where history has forgotten them.

Their stories are important and like all stories, deserve to be told.

Education for Freedmen in the Creek Nation

2011-08-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was thrilled to come across some information in the Congressional Record pertaining to education for Freedmen in Indian Territory.

Of interest to me has been the establishment of schools for Freedmen in the whole of Indian Territory. In the Creek Nation, Evangel Mission, the remains of which are now the home to the Five Tribes Museum, has it's own history and is one of the few school buildings that stand in Oklahoma today that educated former Indian tribal slaves. And many are familiar with the Tullahassee Mission School. A major tribal leader of the Creek nation, Sugar T. George was superintendent of that school for some time.

In the years after the Civil War, the struggles of the former slaves from all of the Five Slaveholding Tribes was ongoing, and education was a continuing issue. A few images of schools here and there, have appeared in historical journals providing occasional glimpses into the lives of the Freedmen, and at some of the private religiously run boarding schools, but I have never seen a comprehensive list of day schools, sometimes referred to as neighborhood schools, until recently.

The year before statehood was 1906 and the 59th Congress was in session. A detailed report coming from Indian Territory was submitted and among the data was rich information pertaining to the day schools.

Some tribes were more ambitious than others in allocating funds for their children, including the children of their former slaves. Stable schools, day schools, boarding schools and neighborhood schools were created in many of the towns and hamlets in Creek Nation towns, and I came upon one list that was very interesting as it listed the schools by name and the race of the student population was also included.

As a result I was able to extract the names of the schools for African Creeks, and was able to compile a unique list of Freedmen schools in that nation.

Source: 59th Congress, 2nd Session House Document No. 5

List is an extraction from list of Creek Day Schools

Source: 59th Congress, 2nd Session House Document No. 5

List is an extraction from list of Creek Day Schools

This is probably the first and only list created name each of the Freedmen Day schools in the Creek Nation. I should mention however, that private schools such as Flipper Davis College and others private schools funded by religious denominations will not be on this list. This list, however might provide additional information for other researchers who seek to document the history and lives of the Freedmen in greater detail.

I shall in a future blog post include Freedmen school lists from the other tribes.

Evangel Mission, A School for Creek Freedmen

2011-07-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

Evangel Mission, a School for Freedmen, Location: Muskogee Oklahoma

It is important to keep one's eyes open for pieces of history all the time.

Sometimes an old photo can tell stories and many times stories are found small pieces of paper that can tell a story. I often find clues even when I am not looking. Finding the answers to questions unexpectedly.

Such is the story of my learning about Evangel Mission.

While recently going through a collection of records, I noticed a letter. Since it was written on stationery, I enlarged it just to see the image, and thought it looked familiar. And this simple letter in an old collection finally revealed the name of this beautiful school. It was known as Evangel Mission.

The masthead on the letter revealed not only the name of the school--but indicated that it was a place of residence for"friendless" Indian and colored children. This school was probably the first school known to be racially integrated, as a school for Indian and "colored" children. The letter was written almost 30 years before Oklahoma became a state and quickly instituted racial codes separating the races for decades.

Evangel Mission was a Baptist School founded in 1883

Evangel Mission was established in 1883, and was operated by Baptists missionaries.But not much has ever been written about the school.. But from the a letter written in 1888, on official stationery it appears that in the 1880s, for some time the school was under the direction of Rev. Ira A. Cain.

Today, the building is known by a different name--the Five Civilized Tribes Museum.Yet, when visiting the site today----it it known to be a building rich in history but the name of the school is not mentioned.

Interestingly---there are several historical markers on the ground of this site---for at one time, it was also the old Creek Agency, but Evangel Mission School is not mentioned by name on any of the historical markers.

Marker on Grounds of Evangel Mission, now The Five Tribes Museum

Source of photo: Personal Collection of Anegla Walton-Raji

Another marker on the found of the museum

Photo: Personal Collection of Angela Y. Walton-Raji

Five Tribes Museum Today

Photo Taken by Angela Walton-Raji

One historic artifact rests on the grounds, which could be the old school bell for Evangel Mission.

Photo taken by: Angela Y. Walton-Raji

And next to the school bell is another marker that speaks to the history of the building as the old Creek Indian Agency.

On the marker it also mentions that the building was at one time a school. However, the name of the school is not mentioned.

Marker next to the old bell, mentions that the building

was once a school used by Creek Freedmen children, but no name is mentioned.

Thanks to a letter that was found in a collection of letters, the name of the school, one of the officers of the school, Rev. Ira A. Cain, is now known. It is clear that the school was known as Evangel Mission.

On the school stationery, a caption underneath the image of the school suggests that there were additional buildings that comprised Evangel Mission School.

If the school was a self-functioning school as the marker suggests, there would have been other buildings, and being a Baptist school there also would have been a chapel among the buildings. Though much of the land around Evangel Mission (now the Five Tribes museum), is now occupied by a large water tank on one side and a hospital on the other side, I cannot help but still wonder what the other buildings were, and where they stood.

Nothing has surfaced to date with the names of the children, nor any of the teachers. However, the letter below suggests that the school was funded by some relatives of the school children, and all were not known to have been orphans or "friendless" children.

Letter Found on Evangel Mission School Stationery

Page1

Page 2 of letter from Evangel Mission

Someday, I hope that the history of Evangel Mission school will be known. Unlike so many other schools, that have disappeared and are not remembered, this is probably the only Freedman school known to still be standing.

Many questions about Evangel Mission must be asked:

Who founded the school?

Who were the teachers?

Who were the students?

Do the foundations of other buildings still exist on the property? (Have they ever been sought?)

Have any records of Evangel Mission survived? If so--where are they?

Could old records be in the building today?

And now that the name of this school is known---Evangel Mission---can it's name be put someplace on the premises?

In a recent blog post, I mentioned that there are so few landmarks that represent the African American history of Oklahoma, especially the pre-statehood-Indian Territory years.

Oak Hill Academy for Choctaw Freedmen is gone.

The Cherokee National Colored High School is gone.

Tullahassee Mission School aka Flipper Davis College is gone.

The Creek-Seminole College for Freedmen in Boley is gone.

All of the original buidings that were built on Langston University are gone.

Sango College in Muskogee is gone.

Tushka Lusa Academy for Choctaw Freedmen is gone.

Dawes Academy for Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen is gone.

BUT-------for some reason---perhaps for the beauty of it architecture---the old Evangel Mission School stands.

Although at present the visitor to this building is not told of its rich history, perhaps that can be changed. Although today it is known as the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, nothing prevents anyone from referring to this important building by the name that it once bore for many years---Evangel Mission.

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Rare 1868 Census Document from Choctaw Nation Found

2011-06-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Western History Collection at the University of Oklahoma contains much useful data on Indian Territory. While looking at many of their digitized images, an unusual census record caught my attention. This was one of a census record taken in Cedar County, reflecting the population in 1868. This is rare, particularly as it reflects a Choctaw community during the Reconstruction era. I am sharing the few pages of that 1868 census here, for all researchers.

The Source of data comes from the Native American Manuscript Collection. It was found in the Choctaw Nation Papers . Within that collection, in Box 49 Folder Number 9 this census tabulation can be found. The document is approximately 19 pages long and the last two pages reflect the Choctaw Freedmen and the 1 white family enumerated as well.

A look at the first page reveals how detailed the information was that was collected of those considered to be fully Indian:

Page 1

Information collected on males was detailed breaking down data on the age categories of each male:

Male Heading on 1868 Census Form

Information collected on females was less detailed:

Female Heading on 1868 Census Form

Data collected on the Freedmen--their former slaves were the least detailed:

Heading Found on Freedman Page of 1868 Census Form

Since the 1868 Freedman page was small and only consisted of 1 full page it is shown in its entirety here.

1868 Cedar County Census - Choctaw Freedmen

The value of Freedmen was clearly reflected in the manner in which data was collected. Age categories did not matter and both genders were grouped together. In addition, many of these former slaves were not listed with surnames. This was a mere two years out of slavery. (Remember slavery was not abolished in Indian Territory until 1866, not 1865.) Quite possibly these former slaves were still being addressed with single names, and possibly some had not begun to use surnames. However this list does represent one of the very first times that the names former Choctaw slaves were written down in family groups---not as property but as adults with families. Though small, this could possibly be the earliest listing of Choctaw slaves known to exist

There was a small page reflecting a white family also on the same document:

Like the Choctaw families more data was included on the males and females

than were collected on the former Choctaw slaves.

All documents and all pages can be found on the site of the Native American Manuscript Collection and the Choctaw Nation Papers, at the University of Oklahoma.

Their Struggles Continued for Decades

2011-06-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

Letter written by Chickasaw Freedmen to Washington DC asking about rights denied to Chickasaw Freedmen. This was written 4 decades after slavery ended in the Chickasaw Nation.

These letters tell so many stories.

Last summer while on a number of trips to the National Archives at College Park MD, I began to read and copy a number of heartfelt letters written by Freedmen of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, expressing their plight. With the Chickasaw Freedmen in particular, they were an abandoned people---released from bondage reluctantly by their Chickasaw slave holders. Like the other tribes, the Chickasaws also signed a treaty in 1866, officially ended slavery in the nation, and the treaty stated that these former slaves were to be assisted in their new life, with citizenship and the rights and privileges that came with citizenship.

Some of the five slave holding tribes complied, but the Chickasaw Nation fought it continually up to Oklahoma statehood, in 1907. Today the Chickasaw Nation, (like their Cherokee neighbors) is a wealthy tribe--one of the wealthiest in the nation, in fact. Of course the descendants of those slaves have no rights, and now that more than a century has passed of statehood, and today, the stories of Chickasaw Freedmen appear only now on the faded pages in forgotten boxes at the National Archives. But---the stories that they tell!

In the letter above, Ellis Williams wrote a simple letter asking if it was true that he and his people in Chickasaw country had truly been denied their rights.

He wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Interior in 1903, and asked,

"I whis(sic) to know is it a fact that the Indians beet(sic) us out of our freedman writs(sic) or not..
How painfully sad this is, particularly as the former Chickasaw slaves and their families were a people without a country until statehood, when Oklahoma joined the Union in 1907. But immediately one of the Oklahoma statesman, who is is taid had Chickasaw ties, had strong disdain for freedmen initiated the first law passed by the state, making separation of the races legal. Thus, the "coach law" was passed legalizing Jim Crow accommodations on public transportation. (The Oklahoma did not repeal this law until 1965.)

I became curious as to who Ellis Williams was and looked up his Chickasaw Freedman Enrollment Card.

Enrollment Card of Ellis Williams Chickasaw Freedman

The 2nd side of his card was also revealing.

Reverse side of Dawes Card for Ellis Williams

Information about Ellis and his history is present reflecting that he was a slave of Chickasaw Sophia Keeel

On the front of the card is also the name of his wife, Viney. On the reverse side, her history is interesting. She was said to have been a slave of the Eastmans. Betsy Eastman was her slave owner. (Betsey, it was revealed in the application jacket was a Chickasaw woman whose husband was an inter-married white citizen.)

Although not much is known of Ellis Johnson the man, his file is rich with data (which I shall put in another blog post)

However the status of the family was part of the greater saga of Freedmen hoping to have issues settled in their nation, along with the land allotments that they were to have received.

His letter above speaks to the frustration that must have been felt during those years of alienation and neglect by both the US government that never enforced the adoption of the Chickasaw slaves. That denial of rights is still upheld to this day.

In Search of Oklahoma Freedmen Landmarks

2011-05-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

Source: Oklahoma Map Produced by:

Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department - Travel & Tourism Division

Most of the landmarks are gone. But---they were there--and should not be forgotten.

There were the old black towns. Over two dozen of them were there at one time, and now today the few that remain are only a ghost of what they once were. Boley the most well known of the towns, still exists.

Boley Oklahoma

Source: The Encyclopedia of African American Heritage

Towns like Boley, Tullahassee, and Red Bird, and Langston, are still around, but others like Foreman, Wybark, and Gibson Station are not.

Location of some black towns of Oklahoma

There were many institutions, yet nothing remains of the old Creek Seminole College for Freedmen.

The old Creek & Seminole College no longer exists, and nothing marks where this facility was.

Source: Archives & Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

Near Valiant Oklahoma, there was a beautiful boarding school for Choctaw Freedmen called Oak Hill. Later changed to Elliott Academy, only a marker on the side of the road remains.

Image of Oak Hill Academy, for Choctaw Freedmen

Source: The Choctaw Freedmen, by Robert Flickinger 1914

State Historical Marker for Oak Hill Academy, now remembered as Elliott Academy stands near Valiant OK

Old Agency Cemetery--a sadly forgotton burial ground in the Creek Nation

Old Agency Cemetery, once a major burial ground for Creek Freedmen is now inaccessible, although thousands of people pass it daily on Highway 69 right outside of Muskogee.

Agency Cemetery as Seen from Highway 69 in Muskogee Oklahoma

However, should one venture into this sacred burial ground---amazing history is there. Creek leader, former soldier, tribal leader and well known attorney Sugar T. George is buried there.

At one time this 10 foot marble marker stood over the grave of Sugar T. George, Creek tribal leader. It now lies toppled over and on the ground, unattended, unseen and long forgotten.

How startling to see the once beautiful marker over the grave site of Sugar T. George, ling on the ground. This amazing Freedman leader, was a former tribal councilman who served in both the House of Warriors and the House of Kings in the Muscogee Creek Nation. He was also at one time, town king of North Fork Colored, and also served as superintendent of the Tullahassee Mission School for Creek Freedmen.

A few feet away, another marker also bearing his name rests.

Original marker for Sugar George

Photos of Sugar George taken at Agency Cemetery by Tonia Holleman and Angela Walton-Raji

Not far from the entrance to the cemetery lies one of the oldest of the Creek Freedman leaders---Harry Island.

Pushed over on its back lies the dignified headstone of Harry Island official interpreter of the Creek Nation.

About a mile away from Old Agency is the Durant Family Cemetery---with the headstone of Rev. Monday

Durant. There is no access into the Durant Cemetery from the road and it is covered by thick brush. Maps of the city do indicate where this burial ground is located. Even an aeriel view shows the cemetery, without entrance or access road.

Aerial view of Durant in Muskogee Oklahoma. There is no access to this burial ground

Thanks to the efforts of Sue Tolbert of Muskogee, images were captured of the headstone of the Rev. Monday Durant, who was also a leader in the Creek Nation. Image was taken several years ago, before the burial ground was consumed by the brush.

The grave site of Creek Leader, Monday Durant, Muskogee Oklahoma.

Photo taken before neglect swallowed this historic site.

Photo courtesy of Sue Tolbert

Smaller landmarks are of course completely gone, such as tiny school in the Choctaw Nation, near Atoka, known as Salt Creek.

Salt Creek School

Source: Archives & Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

The beautiful Tullahassee Mission School was a Creek Freedman boarding school. In its earlier days it was a school for Creeks by blood and did not admit African Creeks. Then when abandoned by the priveleged Creeks it was a school for tribe's former slaves. It later became Filpper Davis College owned and operated by the AME Church.

Tullahassee Mission School in 1891

Source: Archives & Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

However, today, only a marker tells part of the story.

Historical Marker near historical school

The Cherokee Colored High School

Six miles northeast of Tahlequah in an area known as Double Springs, there was the short lived Cherokee Colored High School. Located on the main road northwest of Tahlequah, the school was prevented from being located in Bartlesville when town citizens did not want a black school in their midst. It was therefore located near, but not in, Tahlequah. [A comprehensive history of the school was written in the 2010 issue of Voices of Indian Territory by Dr. James McCullagh of the University of North Iowa.]

Today, one cannot find indication that the school ever existed. No historical marker can be found along highway 82, near Tahlequah. But thanks to Dr. McCullagh, a photo of the school accompanies the article.

Photo courtesy of Dr. James McCullagh, University of Northern Iowa

The school's history was written about in the Chronicle of Oklahoma.

Early information about the Cherokee Colored High School

Sadly the school was burned in 1916 and nothing remains of its past.

Other Schools:

In 1909 a list of schools once supported by the Baptists was listed and for Indian Territory (which was by then, Oklahoma) two schools were listed: Sango Baptist Colleg (of which there is no image to be found), and Dawes Academy in Ardmore.

Partial List of Baptist Supported Schools 1909

All that remains of Dawes Academy are the steps behind Calvary Missionary Baptist Church.

Steps of the Old Dawes Academy

Dawes Academy Steps in Perspective. Located in Ardmore OK at Calvary Baptist Church

Photos courtesy of Joyce Settles

So many rich stories yet nothing remains to show that such rich history took place on Oklahoma soil. Nothing reflects the schools, the burial sites, so many of the old towns.

Is there effort being made to tell their stories?

One cannot expect anyone in Tahlequah to tell the story of the old high school, with the political climate being what it is. But there are the descendants whose ancestors were educated there. The legacy belongs to them--as well as to all Oklahomans.

In the Creek Nation, Sango College remains a dim memory mentioned occasionally on the faded pages of old journals, like that of Tullahassee Mission.

Choctaw Freedmen had Oak Hill, and Chickasaw Freedmen had Dawes Academy--yet, too they are gone and now forgotten. Seminole Freedmen and Creeks briefly had the college in Boley, but yet, there is no evidence upon the soil.

The history of black people in what is now Oklahoma, predates statehood. In fact the presence of African descended people began in the 1830s during the years of the removal.

Slaves came, free people of color also came in smaller numbers. After slavery officially ended in 1866, the black towns thrived for several decades. Schools appeared on the landscape, but now, 100 years later, no historic landmarks speak out from the land. But African people lived on the soil and their home was the Choctaw Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Cherokee Nation the Muscogee Creek Nation, and the Seminole Nation.

We were there, and our history is part of the legacy of the Territory, the legacy of the Five Tribes, and the legacy of what is now Oklahoma.

Civil War in Indian Territory & Honoring Black Soldiers of the Indian Home Guards

2011-04-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Monument to Indian Units that fought at Honey Springs Battle in July 1864

Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. On this day the first shots were fired at Ft. Sumter that began the saga that would divide the nation. It would also be the beginning of the dismantling of the heinous institution of slavery. As a practice, slavery also existed in Indian Territory, and several thousands of Africans had lived in bondage in Indian Territory enslaved within the Five Tribes brought west on the Removal..

Many enslaved Africans ended up in Kansas, some having escaped and others having traveled with their slaveholder of the Lower Creeks, who had hoped to avoid the conflict. This faction was lead by Opothole Yahola. Once in Kansas many of the African Creeks had also found freedom and when the opportunity came, they enlisted in the Union Army. Many joined the 1st and 2nd Kansas Colored Infantries. These units eventually were re-designated as the 79th ant 83rd US Colored Infantry.

However---there are a good number of men--who are not known, and on this day---the anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, I am compelled to share then names of many African men, who also served in the only 3 Indian Union Army regiments. (The rest of Indian Regiments became Confederate Army soldiers and the regiments are listed below following the listing of the black soldiers of the Home Guards )

Black Soldiers of the Indian Home Guards

Sugar T. George

Adam Dyle

Samuel Barnett

Dennis Harrod

George Marshall

Green McGilvray

Saucer Bradley

Robert Benjamin

Abram Colonel

Harry Stedham

Jacob Bernard

Snow Sells

Simon Brown

George Monday

Abe Prince

Billy Caesar

William Hawkins

John Cooks

Jacob Perryman

Dennis Marshall

Manam Marshall

Troy Stedham

Sage Barnwell

Toby Drew

Thomas Marshall

James Quabner

William Peter

Love Jimboy

Tally Lewis

Thomas Al

Gabriel Jimison

Solomon Renty

Jacob McGilvray

Pickett Renty

Charles Renty

August Deer

George McGilvray

Thomas Bruner (Identified as a free man of color)

August Deer

Abraham Caesar

Latah Harjo

Benjamin Ab

Scipio Sancho

Morris Kernell

James Kernell

Ben Sancho

Redman Kernell

Peter Stedham

Joseph Sambo (Sango)

Billy Hawkins (Identified as free man of color)

John Kernell

Jim Barnett (Identified as free man of color)

Aaron Sancho

Samuel Wade

Joe McGilvray

William Grayson

Isaac Smith

Tucker (This was Silas Jefferson)

Adam (Identified as free man of color)

Alex Hawkins
York McGilbra

Silas Jefferson (enlisted as Tucker) was also a leader within the Creek Nation

Some Background on Indian Territory in the Civil War.

It is important to know that the Home Guards (1st, 2nd and 3rd) were the only Indian Union Regiments.

The remaining Native American regiments were Confederates. There were 25 Indian Confederate Units Many of these Indian soldiers were also leaders in the tribes, and many were also slaveholders. (Although the Lower Creeks went north into Kansas, the Upper Creeks stayed and signed and alliance with the Confederacy.)

Cherokee Confederates:

-1st (Watie’s) Cherokee Mounted Volunteers

-2nd Cherokee Mounted Volunteers

-Drew's Regiment (1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles)

-1st Bryan's Batallion

-1st (Holt’s) Squadron,Cherokee Mounted Volunteers

-Frye’s - Scales’ Battalion,Cherokee Mounted Volunteers (1st Battalion, Cherokee Mounted Rifles)

-Cherokee Battalion, Thomas’ North Carolina Legion (2nd Battalion, Thomas’ Legion; Indian Battalion)

Choctaw Confederates:

-1st Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles

-2nd Regiment of Choctaw Cavalry

-3rd Regiment of Choctaw Cavalry

-Darneal's Regiment of Choctaw Warriors

-Folsom's Battalion of Choctaw Mounted Rifles

-Capt. Wilkin's Company of Choctaw Infantry

Chickasaw Confederates:

-1st Regiment of Chickasaw Infantry

-1st Regiment of Chickasaw Cavalry

-1st Battalion of Chickasaw Cavalry

-Shecoe's Chickasaw Battalion of Mounted Volunteers

Confederate Creeks:

(Many of the Upper Creeks aligned themselves with the South while upper Creeks eventually were aligned with the North.)

1st Batttalion Creek Cavalry

1st Creek Mounted Volunteers

2nd Creek Mounted Volunteers

Confederate Seminoles

1st Battalion Seminole Volunteers

1st Regiment Seminole Volunteers

Additional Indian Confederates: Northwest Frontier Command

-1st Osage Battalion

-Major George Washington's Frontier Battalion

-Major James W. Cooper's Battalion

The African Indians of the tribes who served in the Indian Home Guards, in addition to their brethren in the 1st and 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry, should be honored for their bravery and for their actions during the Civil War.

These men, like the US Colored Troops were all Freedom Fighters and should therefore be remembered on this day, the anniversary of the American Civil War.

Monument to the Kansas Colored that also fought at Honey Springs, Indian Territory.

Many of these soldiers were also African Creeks and African Cherokees and African Choctaws

Freedom Celebrations in the Cherokee Nation

2011-03-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

Flyer for Emancipation Celebrations in Oklahoma

For many years, throughout Indian Territory, a number of celebrations of Freedom took place. Today they are often commemorated by Juneteenth celebrations, but among many of the former slaves of Indian Territory--celebrations of freedom from bondage always took place in August, and especially around August 4th.

It is known that this was common especially among former slaves of Creek Indians, but this was also the case in the Cherokee Nation. Cherokee Emancipation ceremonies were said have been elaborate and festive events. Although many Cherokee slaves were released officially from bondage in 1863, they joined other former slaves of Indian tribes by celebrating August 4th as well.

Elizabeth Ross a field worker for the Indian Pioneer project, described the events in Cherokee Country:

Ross went on to describe a particularly memorable event in Tahlequah the capital of the Cherokee Nation. She describes events as they occurred in the latter part of the 1870s.

She pointed out how at that time, (the 1870s) there were still many former slave living who had come into the Territory during the years of the Removal (the Trail of Tears) being brought as slaves along with their Cherokee enslavers.

As time passed the Cherokee Freedman celebration took place more frequently even into the 20th century at Four Mile Branch.

Today Four Mile Branch is where an historic Cherokee Freedman church and cemetery are located. This site is most likely where the last of the Emancipation celebrations occurred.

In the summer of 2005 images were taken of this cemetery by

Tonia Holleman and Angela Walton-Raji

Looking Across Four Mile Branch Cemetery

Images captured in 2005 by Tonia Holleman & Angela Walton-Raji

Although the celebrations of freedom are now events of the past, but hopefully many who share this history will appreciate the value of honoring the ancestors both enslaved and free, both native and states-originated, and both Freedmen and "by blood".

All of the history belongs to all of the people and it is time to begin to tell those stories.

The Minor & Newborn Dawes Freedmen Cards

2011-03-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Enrollment Card of Walton Family

Source: National Archives M1186, Choctaw Freedmen Card 777

When documenting the families from Indian Territory, it is important to "read the small print" or rather the notations that appear on the bottom of the primary family documents.

In the case of my Walton family, all of whom were enrolled as Choctaw Freedmen, a small notation was made on the bottom of the card regarding the children of Sallie Walton's daughter Louisa.

Notation on card to see New Born Freedman Card #230

It is important to understand how the records of the Choctaw Freedmen are actually classified. The notation refers the reader to New Born Card #230. However, there is no New Born Freedman category. The category among the Dawes Enrollment Cards is actually "Choctaw Minor Freedmen".

Sure enough, when looking into the Choctaw Minor Freedmen, Card #230 did reflect more information about the family. Louisa the mother of the children, had married and three of her children were reflected on the same card.

Louisa Ingram Sanders' children were reflected on this enrollment card

of Choctaw Freedman Minors

Since there was an enrollment card for the three children, I became curious and wondered if there was possibly an interview and detailed family file, and I decided to look closely in the M1301 records, and sure enough there was. In fact there was a 32 page file on the family that accompanied the file. Some pages were depositions, some were letters and others were critical vital records, such as birth affidavits.

In this case, two birth affidavits were in the file, and these documents are significant, because they are vital records that were pre-statehood vital records. Oklahoma would not enter the Union until 1907, but in the file were birth records of some of Louisa's children (and Sallie's grandchildren).

This birth record of John Sanders (Louisa's son) was created two years before statehood.

Source: National Archives, M1301 Choctaw Minor Freedmen #230

This birth record of Ethel Sanders was also in the file. Again this is the second pre-statehood

birth record found in the Minor's packet

In addition to the birth affidavit a testimony by their father George Sanders was also made on behalf of his children.

Page 1 of George Sanders' Testimony for his children

Page 2 of George Sanders Testimony

This was an exciting find, because the Sanders branch of the family are cousins and it was never known for years exactly how they were related. Louisa, the mother of the children was the sister to my grandfather, Sam Walton on Dawes Freedman Card 777. These cousins would visit us over the years, but it was not until following the notation on the Walton Card and pulling both the Sanders family card and their packet, was the relationship clear.

The lesson here is to follow all notations on the cards and to study them and see what additional data can be found.

A Closer Look at Susan Colbert, Choctaw Freedwoman

2011-03-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

Enrollment Card of Susan and Israel Colbert, Choctaw Freedmen

In early January, I wrote a piece about Susan Colbert's interview in the Indian Pioneer Papers, by Gomer Gower was an interesting one.

Her voice was not heard, it was summarized and the voice telling the story was the interviewer who wrote about her Cherokee father, and her being placed on the Freedman Roll, which according to the interviewer, was a wise decision, for the Choctaw population was "protected" from countless numbers of "bogus" claims that would have resulted had this woman of mixed ancestry been treated differently.

I found the interview curious not only because of the biases expressed by the interviewer, but the fact that the reader was not hearing her voice---only his narration of her life. I decided therefore to took at some records created 30 years earlier---her Dawes Card.

-From the interview, it was stated that her father was Bob Parrot a Cherokee Indian.
-But from the Dawes Card it is revealed that her father was Tom Parris, A Choctaw Indian.

Enrollment Card of Susan Colbert with husband Israel Colbert, and their children

Reverse side of Enrollment Card. Susan's data appears on line 2. Note her father

is identified as Choctaw, and not Cherokee.

-From the interview it was stated that she married Tom Smith a Choctaw citizen who was half Choctaw, half Negro.
-From the Dawes Card it is revealed that Tom Smith was a Cherokee citizen.

Thomas Smith, a husband from a previous marriage was not Choctaw,

but noted as Cherokee on her Dawes Card.

-From the interview it was stated that their marriage was very brief due to his cavalier lifestyle and he left shortly after their marriage.
-From the Dawes Card it is revealed that Tom Smith was around at least long enough for them to have had three children, who do appear on the card with her.

The children of Susan and Tom Smith are reflected on the Dawes Enrollment Card.

-From the interview it was stated that she married a Choctaw Indian, Israel Colbert.
-From the Dawes Card, it was revealed that she married Israel Colbert a man once enslaved by Sam Colbert. (Also both of his parents were enslaved by Choctaw Sam Colbert.)

Fathers and Father's Slave owners indicated.

Mothers and Mothers' Slave Owners indicated

The lesson learned from the case of Susan Colbert, is that we must rely on multiple sources of information to truly understand the story of an ancestor. With Susan Colbert, she was interviewed in the 1930s and for some reason, her words were not produced, but merely her story was presented in the 3rd person. However, when one looks at the records produced 30 years earlier, a different story emerges about Susan Colber, her life, her husbands and her identity. She was not the daughter of a Cherokee, but the daughter of a Choctaw. Her first husband was not half Choctaw, but he was a Cherokee citizen.

Truly in order to explore the lives of one's ancestors, it is imperative that as many resources as possible are utilized to tell the story, and to tell it accurately.

Remembering Oak Hill Academy for Choctaw Freedmen

2011-02-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

Elliott Academy once known as Oak Hill Academy is noted on this Oklahoma Historical Marker

Photo by Byron Hooks

Known in its earliest days as Oak Hill Academy, this long forgotten institution was known in later years as Elliott Academy till it vanished from the landscape of the Choctaw soil upon which it once stood.

This was once a boarding school full of dormitories, school buildings, smoke house, an active farm so much more, to sustain itself. The school was built by the Presbyterians in the 1860s and for many years this missionary endeavor by Presbyterian missionaries brought education to the children of Choctaw Freedmen. Known for its beautiful grounds and facilities, nothing beyond this historical marker represents the grandeur of this long gone institution.

Life at Oak Hill was well described in the book by Robert Flickinger, and also by a former student, Jordon Folsom a Choctaw Freedman who was interviewed in the Oklahoma Pioneer papers. Folsom's family were slaves of the large Folsom clan in the Choctaw Nation, and his interview in the Oklahoma Pioneer Papers was extensive. He attended Oak Hill and described life as a student.

Excerpts from the interview with Jordon Folsom, Choctaw Freedman

The interview with Mr. Folsom is a lengthy one, describing life as a student and also a long lost LeFlore Cemetery once on the grounds of the school.

Sadly, little is known of the school today. In the 1900s after statehood, the school was known as Elliott Academy when a large donation was made to build a school named after the wife of David Elliott. The school was eventually absorbed into the segregated school system, and over time, like many black schools, it was closed. The buildings are now gone, and nothing but a sign near the Valiant Cemetery mentions it by name.

James McGuire, Choctaw Freedman. A Student at Oak Hill

The young men and women who attended Oak Hill later became leading men and women in their own communities after completing their studies. Some returned to teach in the communities around Valiant and Idabel.

Young men in front of boys residence hall at Oak Hill

One of the more well known men of the community was Wiley Homer who was a supporter of the school and one who frequently spoke at Oak Hill Academy. He was a slave of John Homer, a Choctaw Indian, and while a boy, was hired out to Samson Loring to watch cattle. He learned how to read by memorizing and learning the variations in the cattle brands. When his natural aptitude had been noticed he heard his employer Loring comment about his natural intelligence, he then vowed himself to learn as much as he could. So this self-taught man began his own efforts to pursue education.

The Oak Hill book actually describes how Wiley went about his education after freedom. (Note Choctaws abolished slavery in 1866 and a year later Wiley Homer began his personal quest for enlightenment.)

"When, at 16 in 1867, he was accorded his freedom he obtained a primer and first reader, and undertook to master these by private study. About four years later, a testament and shorter Catechism were given him. He now had what was regarded as a good library for a young man and he applied himself to the reading and study of these books, in the evenings and other periods of spare time. The testament was frequently taken to the field when plowing, in order that he might learn to read a verse or two, while the team was resting, or get a neighbor, passing on the road, to read it for him. The reading of the testament soon awakened a desire to be a teacher and preacher, and this greatly increased his interest in the study of that book."

Portrait of Wiley Homer

He became interested in establishing a church and he created a small brush arbor place of worship and later became the founder of Beaver Dam Church in Grant, I.T. in 1873. Many graduates of Oak Hill later moved to the same community in Grant, Indian Territory and joined the same church.

This is an image taken in 1904 at the Beaver Dam Church, founded by Choctaw Freedman Wiley Homer

Source: Oak Hill Academy for Choctaw Freedmen, by Robert Flickinger

In the early years of the 20th century, Oak Hill continued to thrive. Students from Idabel Valiant, Grant, Hugo, Wynnewood and other places where former Choctaw slaves lived, flocked to this distinguished academy where education flourished and where a path was created to a new way of life and enlightenment.

But Oak Hill had two major setbacks due to fire. In 1908 the Boys Hall caught fire. Funds were secured to build another dormitory. Then two years later the Girls Hall also had a fire. The third floor was severely damaged. In addition to that statehood brought about the beginning of the end of the Academy.

The new state provided laws for the establishment of schools an Oak Hill school district was "created" that split the area of the grounds of Oak Hill community. The new state armed with a new law of racial segregation also set to quash any influence the Oak Hill community had, by establishing a law that wherever there were 6 students existed a new district or school had to be established. Thus the miles that separate families living on their allotments in rural areas, were then also used to break up the once community that had thrived as a social unit.

Many parents were very much afraid of repercussions that might occur if they did not comply, especially since he new state of Oklahoma was now under the influence of a strong southern white bias that had no interest in educational development of black people, so the end of the Oak Hill was forthcoming. Within a very short time, three public schools were established in the vicinity of Oak Hill and parents were warned against not complying with the new rules.

"The mission schools previously established for many years in the chapels of the churches of the Presbytery of Kiamichi became public schools and the pastors that continued to teach became public school teachers."

The school did continue for several years, average enrollment around 100 students.

More images of the school

The Oak Hill High School Curriculum:

9th : Grammar, Arithmetic, Composition, Civics, Elementary Algebra, Bookkeeping.

10th Grade: Algebra, Hill's Etymology, Physical Geography, General History, Rhetoric.

11th Grade: Algebra, Rhetoric, Ancient History, American Literature (Abernathy), Composition, Botany, Plane Geometry.

12th Grade: Solid Geometry, (Hessler & Smith's) Chemistry, Newcomber's English Literature, Political Economy.

Electives: Astronomy, Geology, Zoology, Trigonometry; Surveying, Stenography, Typewriting, Telegraphy.

In January 1908, when P. K. Faison, first superintendent of the public schools of McCurtain county, made his first visit to Oak Hill, he stated that Wheelock and Oak Hill Academies were the only graded schools in McCurtain county at that time.

(SOURCE: Oak Hill Academy, Choctaw Freedmen, by Robert Flickinger, 1914)

In 1910, the school received a donation to build Elliott Hall. This would eventually replace the burned dormitories. A $5000 donation was made by David Elliott who donated funds to build a new residence hall to be named after his wife Alice Lee Elliott. The school name was subsequently changed from Oak Hill Academy to Elliott Hall Academy. This new hall provided an office for the superintendent, a library and reception room, places for boarding and laundry departments, rooms and bath. The school stood on a small elevation known as Oak Hill.

Eventually absorbed into a segregated school system of Choctaw County, the legacy of Oak Hill Academy and of Elliott Hall, eventually was removed from historical memory. The school operated till 1936.

Today only a marker remains.

WHERE WAS THE SCHOOL?

Today, there are no physical traces of the school.

Outside of Valiant Oklahoma, near the entrance to the Valiant cemetery, is an historical marker. (see image at top of this post) I

t tells a brief story of this school, which for several decades brought the only education in this part of Choctaw country to the children of slaves who lived in the Choctaw Nation. An aerial satellite view, using Google Maps, shows where the marker is.

Aerial view of location of historical marker

However, while using Google Maps to locate the marker, I typed in the name several ways, and found a surprising entry on another Google Maps image.

When I typed in Elliott School, Valiant Oklahoma, another image indicator appeared on the map. Several hundred feet away from the entrance to the cemetery, the indicator pointed to something that appeared to be the entrance to some private property.

In the upper right hand portion of this image is an indicator pointing to something that was once there. The lower portion of this image shows the cemetery where the historical marker stands near Valiant Cemetery.

Again using Google Street View, I decided to take a street level view of the site where the marker in the image above points.

Is this the old entrance to what was once Elliott Academy?

Source: Google Street View Image

Looking at that same site again by Google Satellite image, I zoomed in for a closer view, and one can see scars in the ground indicating structures that were there at one time there. Could I truly be looking at the remains of Oak Hill?

Could those images and scars on the soil be the ghosts of Elliott Hall, and other structures that once graced the grounds of Oak Hill, and later Elliott Academy?

Only my imagination now speaks to me as I look at this image. Could that light diagonal scar across the grounds be the path that the students in two photos above used to cross their campus? Could the larger rectangular scar be the remains of Elliott Hall? Is there any local who might be able to answer these questions?

I do not know the community of southeastern Oklahoma very well, but I treasure the history of the people who attended Oak Hill, and whose minds and futures were nurtured upon it's soil. I celebrate the pride of the Choctaw Freedmen who were trained at Oak Hill and later Elliott Hall, and I am saddened that nothing remains of its old glory than a marker several hundred feet away.

How much I would enjoy seeing more unfold of the history of this region and I hope someday to learn of a new surge of pride and sense of history from this small corner of Choctaw Country.

The people and stories in and around what is now southeastern Oklahoma is a rich one. Armed with a fierce desire to learn and aided by the efforts of Presbyterian missionaries, the Choctaw Freedmen community was able to plant a strong desire for learning and to nourish it for decades. Hopefully some day the lives of the people who lived here, will be told.

All photographs of the school are taken from the book The Choctaw Freedmen and the Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy by Robert Elliott Flickinger.

Free Men, Slaves and Slave Traders in the Creek Nation

2011-02-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

Many of the early days of contact between Africans and members of Creek Nation, occurred when runaway slaves from the United States found themselves in communities in the Creek Nation. During those early years, in the late 1700s, according to scholar Gary Zellar, in the book African Creeks the time was one where slaves were not taken hostage or enslaved, but one in which there was a cooperative relationship. Many who interacted with Creeks, quickly learned the Muscogee Creek language and served as interpreters for several decades. One of the more popular interpreters was a black man known as Ketch.

Source: African Creeks: Estelvste and the Creek Nation by Gary Zellar, University of Oklahoma Press, 2007

Over the years relationships changed and it was learned that there was a price on the head of many who were of African descent, and eventually slaves from other communities were captured and returned for reward, and/or sale. Zellar points out that the years of the American Revolution brought about a change in the relationship with blacks and by the latter part of the 1700s, it was realized that slaves could be captured and that rewards were often offered for their capture.

Source: African Creeks: Estelvste and the Creek Nation by Gary Zellar, University of Oklahoma Press, 2007

By the time of the removal there were many slaves brought west with all of the tribes, including the Creeks, and black chattel slavery had taken a strong hold. While studying this historical fact, I had questions.

Could slave traders to be found in the Territory?

While reading Pioneer papers, I was surprised to see an interview referencing a man from the Creek Nation, who was said to have been a prosperous slave trader. Richard Adkins was the grandson of Creek Indian Ben Marshall. Adkins was interviewed about his life in the Creek Nation, and he spoke in detail about his grandfather Ben Marshall, and although this narrative was written in the third person, it is interesting indeed to see a reference to the fact that he came from a slave owning family, and a slave trading family.
Richard Adkins also described life with his grandfather Ben Marshall, and how he was a businessman of many specialties. Among his goods that he traded regularly--were human beings.

Digital Collections, University of Oklahoma, Western History Collection

Indian Pioneer Collection Volume 1, Interview with Richard Adkins

So it appears that during the years of the Civil War, like many slave holders, Ben Marshal made the effort to get his slaves out of the way of Union soldiers, so that they would not get the idea of freedom in their minds, and would not have opportunity to flee to freedom. But----how interesting and relieving to read that some of the slaves had escaped. They had resisted!!!

This is one of the few references to escaped slaves tied to a specific slave owner. It was also good to see that there was resistance, and some even if only a few, had been successful in their escape. The references to those who "went North" refers to those who had left with Opothle Yahola and gone into Kansas. Many of the male slaves who left eventually returned as soldiers in the 1st and 2nd Kansas Colored Infantries (later redesignated as 79th and 83rd US Colored Infantry). There were others who had returned as Union soldiers with the Indian Home Guards as well. But it was good to read even from a family member of the slave holding family that the act of resistance had taken place, for the enslaved people in the Indian tribes, like their brethren in the United States, yearned for the same thing---the right to live as free men and women.

As a genealogist I was curious about two things---could I find out how many slaves Ben Marshall had?

And could I find any slaves of Ben Marshall in later years?

I decided to look at the 1860 Slave Schedule. I expected to find some, but I was surprised at how many I found:

Source: 8th Census of the United States, National Archives, and Records Administration

1860 M653, The Creek Nation, page 17

Upon close examination, Ben Marshall's name begins near the bottom left and the list of slaves that he owned was extensive. Looking at the list, more closely one sees elderly people among the enslaved.

Elders were listed among the enslaved

I was surprised to see that the list of his slaves continued on the next page:

In total---in 1860, a year before the war began, he owned 76 slaves! I wondered if I could find any in later years, who may have lived during the years of the Dawes Commission era. In the Richard Adkins interview, I learned that Ben Marshall died during the War, presumably down south where he had taken many of his slaves.

I did wonder also if there were any of his slaves that might have joined the Union Army could be identified.I looked at the records from the National Park Service database of Civil War soldiers. I did notice that there was a soldier called William Marshall who was one of the black soldiers that served in the Indian Home Guards.

I became curious if I could learn more about William Marshall. Did he live long enough to file a Dawes card in the 1890s? YES!!!!!

And then I was amazed at what I found: He was a slave of Ben Marshall. He would have been one of the slaves that Richard Adkins had known that had escaped to the "North." But there was more.

William Marshall was a slave of Ben Marshall as indicated on his Dawes Card

The reverse side of the card, would hold even more information that caught me by surprise:

William Marshall's father was Ben Marshall, the slave owner and slave trader.

Ben Marshal, the slave trader was the father of William Marshall, the Freedman.

And William was one who did escape from his own father, to join the Union Army to fight those even from his own tribe who had joined the confederate army and who had vowed to keep others enslaved.

So, with the Pioneer interview, I was able to not only document a slave of Ben Marshall, I found one of the slaves, and that slave would have been a sibling to Richard Adkins' mother- and therefore also an uncle to Richard Adkins. One of his own uncles was a slave in the family. This of course happened in many places where people were enslaved, and should not be a surprise. But this is one of the first times I have found a documented slave trader listed as the father of one of his slaves in Indian Territory.

And there is the irony-----the descendants of William Marshall----all of whom are also direct descendants of Ben Marshall the slave trader, are not eligible for admission to the Creek Nation today. Their "sin" is having been born of an African woman, and like many of the slave holding tribes, slave descendants are still excluded from citizenship to this day. Had William Adkins mother been white the descendants would be members of the tribe today. Interestingly, these policies have yet to be addressed by the citizenry that acknowledges that the practice is unfair, but somehow still, ok.

But---the history is there, and the history is a rich one. This small glimpse into the lives of persons from the Creek Nation is only a beginning.

For the descendants of Ben Marshall's slaves, there are additional records, to study. With the Creek Nation, many interviews are missing and were never microfilmed. Some claim it is because of blended families like that of William Marhsall, but that cannot be substantiated. However, for the descendants of the family of William Marshall and other families like his, there are other enrollment cards, there is also the 1895 Old Series cards that unlock the doors for many Creek researchers, and there are the rich interviews from the Pioneer records, as well as Military records. The Civil War Pension file of William Marshall will tell even more stories from his life.

This is a story that can be told from many perspectives, free people, the enslaved, slave owners and slave traders, and those who resisted! All stories deserve to be researched and told! This is a mere beginning.

Where My Ancestors Come From...........

2011-02-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Video from YouTube.com/estelusti

There were dozens of communities where the Oklahoma Freedmen lived. As mentioned in the video, among them were Berwyn, Milo and countless other settlements throughout Indian Territory. More widely known were those settlements that became full towns of which only a few remain today.

Not enough is written about the Freedmen communities and the quality of their lives before and after the war. Berwyn and Milo, once exclusively Freedmen communities are now part of the town called Gene Autry. Nothing remains even in the name to reflect a different kind of history. However, there are a few places were one might find descriptions of the lives of the people who lived in those settlements before their communities became white-washed and erased from the landscape, completely.

Ed Abram was a Chickasaw Freedman. His family was enslaved by the Colberts. He eventually lived in the Freedman settlement of Milo and in his interview in the 1930s, he told part of his life story and provided a glimpse into the life of black Chickasaw families.

Like many Freedmen there is an enrollment card but little other information from the interviews. However, it should be noted that Ed Abram was married to a Chickasaw woman. See the front of his Dawes Enrollment Card:

Source: NARA Microfilm M1186

Chickasaw Freedmen Card No. 699

Image: Reverse side of Card No. 699

Enrollment Card of Amanda Abram, wife of Ed Abram

Source: NARA Microfilm M1186

Choctaw by Blood 610

Amanda Stevenson Abram was 1/4th Chickasaw. Her father was a Freedman and her mother was a Chickasaw by blood. As a result, she is on the By Blood rolls, making her descendants should they wish to be, eligible for enrollment in the Chickasaw Nation, today. (Her image appeared on the video above.)

Descendants of those who ancestors were on the Freedmen Roll, like their enslaved ancestors, are consider ineligible for enrollment, although their status as slaves made them ineligible for freedom.

However, the lives of the Freedmen however, are lives worth documenting, and though the communities have been dissolved, and largely forgotten by many---thankfully records remain and one can still learn about their lives by following the trail of names and the stories that tell so much more.

Following the Paper Trail of our Ancestors

2011-02-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

Sallie Walton- Choctaw Freedwoman

Her data is on Dawes Card Choc. Freedman 777

When telling the stories of our ancestors, it is important that we collect as many documents as we can to telrl their stories. Having ancestors from Indian Territory does make it even more challenging as the paper trail can seem to get a bit fuzzy before the Dawes Era.

As a result, it makes documentation all the more critical.

My great grandmother was Sallie Walton and she was an original Dawes enrollee. She was born in 1863 and died in 1961, at 98 years of age. I was fortunate to know her, and have warm memories of her, from my childhood. When I discovered her Dawes Card at the National Archives, it was a surprise for me to learn that in my lifetime that I had known someone who had been born a slave. She and her mother, were slaves in the Choctaw Nation.

Close Up of Dawes Card, Reflecting Sallie's mother's slave owner Emeline Perry. Thankfully, the descendants of Emeline Perry, and Nail Perry have a strong interest in the same history and they are most gracious in joining in the search to learn more about the Perry family, the Perry slaves, and the Perry history.

I learned a bit about her, and the enslavement of her mother, and her mother's freedom from the interview. A man closely associated with Sallie and her mother indicated that Sallie's mother was a slave of his sister.

The Perry's were not extremely wealthy people, apparently Nail Perry had one male slave and his sister Emeline, who later married into the Folsom family also had one slave. That one slave was Sallie's mother, Amanda. I found Nail Perry and his sister Emeline on the 1860 Slave Schedule and it reflected their ownership of their slaves.

1860 Federal Slave Schedule Reflecting the slaves of Nail Perry & his sister Emeline Perry Folsom, in the Choctaw Nation, Sugar Loaf County

Little was known about her personal life when she was young, and who she considered her family outside of her husband and children. But about 3 years ago a good friend and colleague in Van Buren Arkansas, phoned and asked me who was Davis Frazier? I did not recognize the name. She had discovered a World War I Draft Card, and the card mentioned Sallie Walton as next of kin to man registering for the draft.

Draft Card of Davis Frazier, related to Sallie Walton. The card was discovered by researcher Tonia Holleman of Van Buren, Arkansas. I am most grateful to her for this discovery.

There is no doubt that the Sallie that he mentioned was his relative and that she was my gr. grandmother Sallie. Although I had never heard of him in family history, and his name was never mentioned, the Sallie that he listed as a close relative was my Sallie. She lived in LeFlore County for most of her life, and she resided particularly in the community around Howe, Oklahoma. Since Davis Frazier was born in the 1870s, he would not have been a Civil War veteran, and he does not appear to have lived outside of the community. His exact relationship to Sallie is still not known, but he is another piece in the family puzzle.

When Davis Frazier went to the Dawes Commission for his interview---Robert Benton, a well known Choctaw in the Sugar Loaf area, testified and confirmed that Davis Frazier did have ties to the Nation.

Dawes Interview of Davis Frazier, Choctaw Freedman File #671

National Archives Publication M1301

In addition to the personal papers found in official respositories such as archives, there are often papers and documents that can be found among family documents as well.

One family treasure kept neatly for many years among family papers, was a plat map that reflected my gr. grandmothers Sallie Walton's home.

Plat Map Reflecting property of Sallie Walton, 1912

Close Up Image of Plat Map

Close Up View of Plat Map

Sometimes these paper documents reflect much more than names and places. They reflect the struggles of a family to make a claim for a home, they reflect the responses made by the family to be counted, and they reflect untold stories of the desire to remain in the places that they knew as home.

These interviews, old family papers and so much more allow us to give thought to the motivation behind their traveling to be interviewed, their taking the time, and their response to the times as they changed around them. I treasure those documents from my own family history and continue the search for more.

The Ancestors Speak the Truth of Who They Were

2011-01-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

When looking at the saga of issues pouring out of the Cherokee Nation, one sees the manipulation of words----NON Indian--------but never NON-Cherokee. But beyond all of that--------------who were the Freedmen?

Who were the Freedmen upon whom their descendants base their claim of an Indian tribal legacy?

Willie Davis, Cherokee Freedman

Sallie Walton, Choctaw Freedman

Thomas Stevenson, Chickasaw Freedman

Sarah Rector, Creek Freedman

Caesar Bruner, Seminole Freedman

They were people from the five slave-holding tribes, who lived peacefully in their various nations, spoke the language of the tribe, ate the same food, and toiled upon the land. Men, women, & children, whose kinsmen now declare that they are an alien non-Indian people who have infiltrated their domain. But when you read the stories of the ancestors----all becomes clear. The heinous practices of from Tahlequah to Tishomingo speak to what they are.

But the words of the ancestors are clear----they speak the truth of who they were.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Case of Chaney Richardson

Chaney Richardson was an old lady in the 1930s, and she told her story in 1937 when interviewed as part of the WPA. This is part of her story:

Her background:

"I was born in the old Caney settlement southeast of Tahlequah on the banks of Caney Creek. Off to the north we could see the big old ridge of Sugar Mountain when the sun shine on him first thing in the morning when we all getting up....

Her parents:

My pappy's name was Joe Tucker and my mammy's name was Ruth Tucker. They belonged to a man named Tucker before I was born and he sold them to Master Charley Rogers and he just let them go on by the same name if they wanted to, because last names didn't mean nothing to a slave anyways. The folks jest called my pappy "Charley Rogers' boy Joe."

Death of her mother:

When I was about 10 years old that feud got so bad the Indians was always talking about getting their horses and cattle killed and their slaves harmed. I was too little to know how bad it was until one morning my own mammy went off somewhere down the road to git some stuff to dye cloth and she didn't come back. It was about a week later that two Indian men rid up and ast old master wasn't his gal Ruth gone. He says yes, and they take one of the slaves along with a wagon to show where they seen her.

They find her in some bushes where she'd been getting bark to set thedyes, and she been dead all the time. Somebody done hit her in the head with a club and shot her through and through with a bullet, too. She was so swole up they couldn't lift her up and jest had to make a deep hole right along side of her and roll her in it she was so bad mortified.

Loss of her siblings:

I think old Master sell the children or give them out to somebody then, because I never see my sisters and brother for a long time after the Civil War, and for me, I have to go live with a new mistress that was a Cherokee neighbor.

Death of her father:

Somebody come along and tell me my own pappy have to go into the war and I think they say he on the Cooper side, and then after while Miss Hannah tell me he git kilt over in Arkansas.

I was so grieved all the time I don't remember much what went on, but I know pretty soon my Cherokee folks had all the stuff they had et up by the soldiers and they was jest a few wagons and mules left.

Hiding of the Cherokee slaves:

"All the slaves was piled in together and some of the grown ones walking, and they took us way down across the big river and kept us in the bottoms a long time until the War was over. We lived in a kind of a camp, but i was too little to know where they got the grub to feed us with. Most all the Negro men was off somewhere in the War."

In her latter years:

I've been a good church-goer all my life until I get too feeble, and I still understand and talk Cherokee language and love to hear songs and parts of the Bible in it because it make me think about the time I was a little girl before my mammy and pappy leave me.

Can anyone reading the above passage say thats Chaney Richardson was not Cherokee?

Can even the current chief today truly look a descendant of this woman in the eye---without blinking and DARE say that she was not Cherokee?

She even spoke the language that he himself does not even speak---she spoke Cherokee, yet he and his staff dare declare her to be, NOT Cherokee.

Can the tribe that labels her and her descendants simply as non-Indian truly be believed?

The tribe devotes an ENTIRE page on their website to justify those whom they call NON-Indian. But--- they are careful not to call them Non Cherokee----because the fact is Chaney Richardson IS Cherokee. And if she is----then her descendants are---no matter what.

Chaney spoke the language and lived according to Cherokee customs. Yet, her descendants are treated in this manner in the nation of their birth: See image below.

Image from Official Website of Cherokee Nation, with 4th link blatant calling Cherokee Freedmen NON-Indians. (Wisely they are not referred to as Non-Cherokee)

Sadly-----the word Indian is being used as a "blanket" pun intended---to garner support from the world---that Cherokee Indians have been invaded by alien non-Indians.

But even Tahlequah officials must acknowledge that -----Chaney Richardson was BORN into the Cherokee world, and that she TOILED for the Cherokee world, ----and no word manipulation, no expensive representation from The Podesta Group, no clever "we-are-victims" wording on tribal membership sites will make the slaves of their ancestors alien invaders.

They were Cherokee.

They lived in a Cherokee world.

They spoke the Cherokee language.

They lived by Cherokee law.

And likewise,

For the Freedmen descendants of all of the slave-holding tribes:

They were Indian people.
They lived in an Indian world.
They spoke the Indian language of their birth.
The lived by Indian law.

But today, in Tahlequah their crime is simply having slaves as ancestors.

Those who label a segment of their population of people whose ancestors were once enslaved IN their nation as NON----------- those individuals who use such terms hide behind a blanket of shame.

But the ancestors speak the truth of who they were.

No clever maneuvering can change the past----they speak the truth of who they were. As Chaney Richardson said:

"I still understand and talk Cherokee language and love to hear songs and parts of the Bible in it because it make me think about the time I was a little girl before my mammy and pappy leave me."

NO ONE can say that this woman is not Cherokee.

She was----her children were----and her descendants are.

No race-driven madness can change who she was. She merely lived life as it was handed to her in her Cherokee world.

Our ancestors lived their lives as it was handed to them, in their corner of Indian Territory.

Can a Friend of Friends be Found in the Territory?

2011-01-26T22:46:00.000-08:00

Someday the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners
will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.......Martin Luther King, 1963

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Last year, in the genealogy community, a movement was created allowing descendants of slave holders to share information in their families or family papers with descendants of those who were enslaved. This gesture originated on the Our Georgia Roots blog, and and from Luckie Davis the blogger's open letter to the genealogy community, it turned into a wonderful event where people began to interact with each other, acknowledging the past and working together in the same direction to something new. The Friend of Friends site emerged and now dozens are sharing data on slaves once a part of their family's circle as well.

I was inspired last year, when a descendant of the slaveholders of my own Choctaw family, reached out to me. I shared that meeting with readers of my blog as well. I am happy to say that a year later, there is still contact with my new "cousins" and that our relationship is a genuine one. We speak or email regularly and we discuss the mysteries in the family and the facts that we both share in our lines. It was and continues to be a good one.

My meeting with Choctaw Descendant of the Perry clan.

I have reason to be optimistic again. This is because another person has also reached out to me.

A descendant of another Choctaw slave holder has contacted me.

We have talked, he visits my sites, we exchange email and there is hope for dialogue, and friendship to emerge. He was not an apologist, nor a revisionist for his ancestors. And he is not responsible for the actions of his ancestors, yet he is aware of the issues of freedmen, agrees that the tribes are also on the wrong moral side. He has shared a document created by one of his ancestors talking about the ex slaves. He is willing to look at other family records, and he has extended a hand of friendship that I accept and that I appreciate.

So---what are the lessons here?

Lesson #1 We can meet and share what we have in common
Lesson #2 We can work to explore a better future together
Lesson #3 We can also be friends and embrace that which is also family.

How does this happen?

-Joint conferences/reunions/gatherings, to share our history can be organized. This can truly happen and there can be something good. I was one of the many who attended the often mentioned Dartmouth conference in 2000. That event had its moments of tension and was not without controversy then. And this past year, several Cherokee and other native scholars attended the conference in eastern Oklahoma that several of Freedmen descendants also attended last year. Not one of the native scholars ever acknowledged that we were there, not one spoke to us unless we initiated it and not one even passed a polite nod or smile. Icy? Indeed!! But it doesn't have to be. Thankfully the conference planners also Indian, were warm, genuine and shared a spirit of welcome.

-Share a preservation project---cemeteries both black and Indian are disappearing fast and both need to be preserved. Why not share that preservation effort? Many are working independently to preserve these burial sites---but how much more could be done with collaboration?

-Expand the level of scholarship. There should be an area of study that explores the Freedmen histories, landmarks, communities----and they can take place by scholars of all races including Indian scholars who have conveniently skip over these chapters in their own history. It does not make you less Indian by looking at, and studying and talking to the many Africans who lived and live in your midst. The history is rich and full of amazing stories of resilience of so many! We share that history with you.

-Educational funding----myself having been an educator, and a reader in a national scholarship program, (the Gates Millenium Scholarship) and with over 25 years in higher education, I am aware of remarkable funding sources for students of all backgrounds, the opportunities and the similarity of needs within both communities. I would propose the development of a scholarship for distinguished scholars, a fund for those who are Dawes Descendants could be initiated, and maintained by a team of educators. There are methods of securing funds that would not tap into precious tribal resources---and the development of such a fund would serve so many.

-Health awareness and Wellness Both Indian and African American communities suffer from the same diseases. The occurrence of diabetes and hypertension are rampant in both communities, and are at epidemic proportions. There are individuals who are working on their own to develop community based health programs, including growing organic foods, obesity prevention and so much more. The same health problems are threatening us all, and stemming from the same causes, starch based diets, fast foods, fried foods, sedentary lifestyle, and more. There are opportunities within the same communities to address these issues jointly---if only the people would start to talk to each other.

Our needs are the same.
Our histories took place on the same landscape.
And our ancestors arrived together---on the same trail!

When will other descendants of slaves and descendants of slave owners, shake hands and emerge as friends and family? I am grateful that one man reached out to me and that we met a year ago.

Hopefully others will follow that lead, and will do the same thing. Surely not everyone in Tahlequah is afraid of dialogue. Surly not everyone in Durant looks aside when someone different comes their way. Surely not everyone in Tishmingo or Oklmulgee buries their past, and hopefully not everyone in Seminole flinches when members of the Barkus band or Bruner bands, (the Freedman bands) attend a meeting.

Our needs are the same.

Our histories took place on the same landscape.

And our ancestors arrived together---on the same trail!

I think back a year ago, when I met the Perry descendants for the first time, and I also realize that this was probably one of the first if not the very first case of slave owners from an Indian tribe who have extended a hand of friendship to descendants of family slaves. Our meeting was probably an historic one, and it is one for which I am grateful.

What emerged was nothing confrontational, or adversarial. It was a meeting of people who share a history, and one in which that history was acknowledged and a relationship that has been rewarding has resulted.

I think back at the conference in Muskogee, that my colleagues and I attended, and recall that very few from the tribal entities spoke to us. Some chose simply to ignore our presence, while others were overtly rude. Some of us attempted dialogue, and only after standing aside for long periods of time, would we finally have the attention of one of the speakers, for a mere autograph on a book. It was clear that our questions were merely tolerated, as if there was an expectation of trouble to emerge from the Freedmen in the room. But we cannot dwell on that behavior and must simply move on.

I was inspired by the Perrys of LeFlore as I am inspired by others who listen, read, and who share. The possibilities are countless and people will realize that they have more in common than not in common.

Our needs are the same. Our histories took place on the same landscape. And our ancestors arrived together---on the same trail!

Let us learn from my meeting last year. Such things can be done. I gladly share a portion of that meeting here.

One Cannot Erase the History of One's Past

2011-01-21T16:57:00.001-08:00

Federal Census of 1860 - Slave Inhabitants Cherokee Nation

List of people enslaved by Cherokee Chief John Ross

Continuation of Slaves Owned by Cherokee Chief John Ross

Many of the controversies coming from the Five Tribes of Oklahoma, stem from the fact the descendants of Indian Territory slaves, are the testament to slavery that took place on the soil of what is now Oklahoma. The descendants of those who were enslaved, are a reminder to the world, that the tribes that were removed from the southeast, had joined and participated in America's original sin---Black chattel slavery.

From the Freedman Expulsion Vote of 2007, to the Lawsuits Filed in Tribal Court Against the Freedmen Descendants by the tribe-----the Cherokee Nation has struggled to divest itself of its slave legacy by simply keeping them out of visibility to all who hold the nation in sympathy, but as it should not do---it won't go away. It will not go away----the tribes are standing on the wrong moral side of a story that has a simple solution.

George Wallace, Lester Maddox and many countless segregationists of the 1940s 50s and 60s were also on the wrong moral side of a story that had a solution.

Acknowledge your actions and treat all portions of your nation as citizens, and move forward as a stronger nation, with its integrity intact.

What will probably be a surprise is that many descendants of Freedmen of the Five Tribes, want nothing other than citizenship and the right to speak of their past without rebuke or scorn from the nation, in which their ancestor EARNED their citizenship. Yes, slavery earned the citizenship of those once enslaved, and they deserved no expulsion, nor mistreatment, nor disenfranchisement. No more than the treatment of former slaves after freedom in the deep south was deserved, it was not deserved in the Territory, and surely not 140 years later. The actions of the 21st century have placed slave holding tribal leaders on the wrong side of a moral battle.

The recent ruling from Tahlequah (click on link to see the ruling) is an ironic one---because this was the case where the tribe sued individuals whom they had never met, never acknowledged and never even informed them of the lawsuit!!! It was imply a legal action organized in tribal court against individuals who had never harmed them, never broken a law---they had merely existed while black in the land of their parent's birth. And, the tribe lost this battle that they started.

Today in the 21st century, in one tribe on their tribal website they rebuke the Freedmen and call them simply "non-Indian" (click on link to see the page)---- because they don't have their slave owner's blood. That can be interpreted in many ways----meaning looking too black, not being light enough, or not being white enough. Non Indian? In a tribe that admits people who are 1/1000th Indian blood as being Indian enough----let common sense prevail that too is also non-Indian. 1/1000th? And the argument of blood was never applied to the children of inter-married whites----only the children and descendants enslaved blacks were the problem and they were the ones to whom this has been applied and yet---- citizens by treaty since 1866 they are citizens and can prove their tie by blood to their citizen ancestors! The insanity of it all!

In an immoral battle, there is a lesson here however, and the greater lesson is that: one cannot erase the history of one's past. One understands it, talks about it, acknowledges it, CORRECTS it and moves forward.

There will be no need spend millions more dollars to revise history, for it won't work. There are documents that exist to contradict every word that has been said to justify the reasons for expulsion. But one cannot erase the history of one's past.

Slave Auction site

There will be no need to hire expensive lobbyists who can't help you in an immoral battle. Not even the Podesta Group could resolve the problem. No need to invent claims of what documents really meant, for they speak for themselves as they reflect what they really said. One cannot erase the history of one's past. Acknowledge it, talk about it, and correct it, and move on.

Looking at the recent case that brought out about this week's ruling, it is so interesting, as not even those who were sued in Cherokee Court were told of their suit in tribal court by the tribe. And look closley, the Freedmen are part of the nation---whether this is liked or not. As slaves were part of the Cherokee community, so too are their children. And so, the tribe, sued a portion of its own self---- in its own court---- and lost!!

Once again, being on the wrong side of a moral battle, where it was hoped that the courts would put a nail in the coffin, of segregation, fate has stepped in, because one cannot erase the history of one's past.

In days gone by from Webbers Falls when the slaves revolted to the tribal confederate alliances of the Civil War fought to keep people enslaved, it was a loss again. One the wrong side of a moral battle. And one cannot erase the history of one's past.

Slave mansions in Tahlequah still bear the mark of plantation life that was, and yet none of the slave holding tribes even mention this in their history, perhaps of fear that visitors will think less of them, but, the lesson is clear--- one cannot erase the history of one's past.

But the real solution is not that difficult.

Have a good cleansing of one's conscience, and honestly look at the history, at the facts and look also at the possibilities.

A coming to the table will open so many doors. For what do the descendants of former slaves want? That is simple----to be included in the nation that their parents, grandparents, gr. grandparents only knew as home.

Is that so frightening?

They want simply not to be ostracized because of a clever manipulation of words and documents and rolls of segregation.

They want what all people want---their legacy as men, as women and as people to be honored. Period.

If one has an inability to embrace that concept---once again, they stand on the wrong side of an moral battle.

From Tahlequah, to Tishomingo, from Seminole, to Durant to Okmulgee, how ironic that America's first citizens can stand and look at the descendants those stolen from another land and enslaved in their land and can tell them, in a good old fashioned southern manner---you are nothing, you don't have my good blood, and therefore I can legislate you out of existence.

It is time to come to the table. The people you hate do not hate you.

It is time, Tahlequah, Tishomingo, Seminole, Durant, Okmulgee---if you wish to stand rightfully in the league of nations----you must embrace all components that make up who you are. And yes, those slaves that supported those leaders of the past brought you to this day! And they ARE part of you!

You cannot erase the history of your past.

* * * * * * * * * *

Collage of Indian Territory Freedmen Illustration by: Terry Ligon

On This MLK Day I Like to Think that "A Change is Gonna Come"

2011-01-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

Who will meet me on the Cultural Bridge?

"I have a dream that one day........the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.~

In September 2010, I shared information with my readers about my meeting a man who could also be my cousin, who contacted me. He was the descendant of the slave owner of my gr. grandparents, and it was f or both of us A Choctaw Reunion. That meeting restored a sense of confidence in people and what people when they talk, can do.

This past week I receive another amazing email. It was a from a gentleman who read my article about Israel Folsom, a Choctaw leader in the 19th century, and a man who also owned slaves. The man who contacted me was a descendant of Israel Folsom. His email was a warm one, rich in detail and he left a phone number. I replied to his email and he wrote a second time. The response was rich in detail, about his ancestors, and it included information about the relationship that the family maintained with some of the former slaves and their descendants. It described a relationship that continued into the 1970s. His second email also contained a phone number, and I decided to phone him to thank him for sharing rich data with me. We ended up talking for quite a while----and had much to share. Like my experience with the gentleman I met a year ago, our conversation was warm, enlightening, and full of information, that will allow us to continue to talk in the future.

Several months ago, I asked the question---who will meet me on the cultural bridge? I was compelled to ask the question to express thoughts and emotions from having attended a remarkable landmark conference in Muskogee Oklahoma. The term was taken from a presentation by one of the storytellers at that conference who asked such a question in that way.

On this day, which happens to be Martin Luther King's birthday, I am also compelled to ask the question and to reflect on his words and dedication to understanding, and to dialogue, conversation and human respect shown to all. That event in itself was enlightening, although in real time, the interaction between those from the tribes and those from the Freedmen communities was sparse and at times chilly. But we all must grow from the experiences that we have.

With some of my paternal roots firmly planted in Oklahoma soil, the lessons of the past have not been without its challenges. Slavery, the American kind-----black chattel slavery was practiced in what is now Oklahoma-- and the slaveowners in my family's case were Choctaw. My gr. grandparents Sam & Sallie Walton were among those slaves.

Enrollment Card of Sam & Sallie Walton as Choctaw Freedmen

M 1186 Choctaw Freedman Card #777

The Choctaw slave owners of my gr. grandparents were clearly spelled out on the card.

In the course of conversation with the Colbert descendant, it was odd to him also that slave descendants were still disenfranchised to this day. He acknowledged the fact that slavery but surely, he had hoped that such ideas of separation were not woven into tribal politics today----but they are, and I explained how this is, and how Freedmen are considered unworthy of citizenship.

It should be noted that the gentleman who contacted me, is an accomplished professional, very well educated and well established in the community where he lives. He is an enrolled member of the tribe, and though he lives outside of Oklahoma today, does get back to his home base at least once a year. He is therefore, no stranger to the land of his parents, grandparents, and gr. grandparents. He was also a very gracious man, and our conversation promises to lead to future ones, where data and stories can be shared, and barriers can be torn down.

This week, a judge in Cherokee Court, addressed the amendment that allowed the Cherokee Nation to "vote out" a portion of their nation that they don't like. The judge courageously pointed out that no longer can a tribe that hides behind a "blanket of blood" (they don't have our blood) be allowed to do something so heinous.

On the day when many in the land, pause to reflect on why MLK Day exists, I urge those to simply dwell on the very concept of how descendants of those who lived on the land, who worked on the land, who died on the land in the same community----how can they NOT be considered to be a part of the community that they helped to build?

Perhaps those who despise the descendants of their slaves, from Tahlequah, to Tishomingo, from Seminole, to Durant, to Okmulgee-----perhaps it is time that they look at themselves, at their practices at their values, and decide that it is time to do what is right. And then perhaps a "change is gonna come."

Amendment to Cherokee Constitution against Freedmen Overturned

2011-01-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

Enrollment Flyer Used for Cherokee Freedmen

Distributed to Cherokee Freedmen Citizens During the

Years of the Dawes Commission Enrollment Period

In a lower court ruling today, Cherokee Nation District Court Judge John Cripps overturned an amendment to the Cherokee Nation Constitution passed by the Cherokee people with 77% of the vote in 2007, which denied citizenship to about 2,800 non-Indian freedmen descendants who had gained citizenship since a previous court ruling in 2006.

Information was just released today and the ruling can be found HERE.

This ruling means that the Cherokee Nation may begin to process the applications of several thousand applications made by Cherokee Freedmen, that were halted when the nation voted to expel descendants of those who were once held as slaves by the nation.

Remembering the 1st Kansas Colored - Black Freedom Fighters from Indian Territory

2011-01-13T06:14:00.000-08:00

Flag of the 1st Kansas Colored

Source: Kansas State Historical Society

**********************************

As the nation begins to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, we as descendants of Indian Territory Freedmen need to pay attention to the efforts that will unfold for the next five years. In the nearby United States, as well as in Indian Territory, from 1861-1865, there was active participation in the fight for freedom among those who were slaves of the Five Tribes---Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations. Several hundred Africans fled into Kansas, and emerged as soldiers, armed and ready to fight for their freedom!

Upon arrival in Kansas after a treacherous winter trip into this non-slave state, an incredible opportunity arose for the slaves who escaped with Opothle Yahola and others. This opportunity was to seize freedom, enlist in the Union Army and to fight for freedom! Many men responded, some joining the 1st Kansas Colored, others the 2nd Kansas Colored and a small number of these black men also joined the 1st and 2nd Indian Home Guards.

Today is the anniversary of the date that the 1st Kansas Colored, was mustered into the Federal Army which redesignated this unit as the 79th US Colored Infantry (New). The 1st Kansas Colored Infantry is historically one of the most significant regiments for it was a regiment of "firsts".

This was the first African American unit recruited in the Union Army for service in the Civil War.
As a unit they were organized as early as August 1862, and the 1st Kansas colored was later officially mustered into the Federal Army on January 13th.

This was the first black regiment to engage in battle in the Civil War
Prior to merger with the Federal Army, the 1st Kansas Colored engaged in battle at Island Mound, Missouri in October 1862.

From this unit came the first black soldiers to die in action in the Civil War.
10 soldiers died at Island Mound, but the battle was a victory, as confederate soldiers were driven off.

Photo: Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society

And of course, the distinction of this unit was that this unit would be the one that "saved the day" at the Battle of Honey Springs. This battle was one in which was also described by a former Creek Nation slave, Lucinda Davis, who was a young girl, who lived close to the battlefield. She was interviewed during the WPA Slave Narrative project period.

Photo: Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society

Lucinda Davis was an eyewitness to the beginning of

the Battle of Honey Springs

Among the stories that we collect---there should be those stories of the first days of freedom, the Civil War efforts made by our ancestors, and their involvement in the war that eventually led to freedom.

Of course it must be mentioned that the end of the Civil War did not bring immediate freedom for those in Indian Territory. When slaves were freed in the United States, the tribes were resistant in freeing their slaves in many places throughout the Territory. As a result, the Treaty of 1866 was signed that officially abolished slavery in the Five slave holding tribes.

This is all the more reason for the need to tell the story of the bravery of those men from the nations that did enlist---that did defy their masters many of whom had joined Indian confederate regiments----and their goal had nothing to do with rights of southern states----the Indian confederate units engaged in the war of the rebellion to preserve chattel slavery on their soil.

The courage of those enslaved men, who dared to escape therefore should not only be honored, but their stories should be studied and learned and told, so the future generations will know these stories.

We honor our ancestors by telling their stories!

Headstone of Robert Bowleggs, 79th US Colored Infantry

Buried at Ft. Smith National Cemetery

Photo taken by Tonia Holleman of Van Buren Arkansas

The 79th was first organized as the 1st Kansas Colored

The Case of Susan Colbert, Cherokee Father, Choctaw Freedman Mother

2011-01-03T23:19:00.001-08:00

The WPA interview with Susan Colbert is an interesting one. It reveals the policies under which many Freedmen had to live and the discrimination that was expected to be dealt to them. This sentiment, is reflected also in the voice in which this interview was written. Instead of a 1st person speaker voice, the entire selection was written in the voice of the interviewer, Gomer Gower. Many of the Gower interviews are most interesting since he interviewed many from the ex slave community of the Choctaw Nation. However, his sentiments come through on the final page, that the exclusion and non-recognition of marriages with between Choctaw and "negro" spouses was acceptable and also to be applauded.

(interview continues below)

(Having a mother who was a former slave, was the prevailing rule that placed Susan Colbert on the Freedmen roll, and prevented her descendants from having access to the Nation of their ancestor today. Their distinguishing fault? Having a female ancestor of the wrong color.)

She married twice in her lifetime. Her first marriage was to a Choctaw freedman, and after their marriage ended, she married a Choctaw I.C. Colbert. This is one of the few interviews that outlines the racial policies followed by the Dawes Commission, and conveniently used by tools today as a tool of exclusion.

The Irony

Strangely, the practices of exclusion practice 100 years ago are not known to most who descend from their Freedmen ancestors. Thus today many individuals apply to the tribe of their grandparents and gr. grandparents, hoping to enroll in the nation. The sentiment is one of "joining the family" but when the application is received---the jolt is felt!!! They are surprised, hurt, and confused--for the people for whom they had warmth and good feelings are meeting them with with hostility, coldness and outright dislike. This again is unexpected and not understood.

Many Freedmen descendants speak of their ties to the Five tribes, with good feelings, and pride, and many are stunned into silence to learn that such feelings are not mutual, towards them, and that the policies of exclusion continue and are part of the current policies of the day. The hurt and surprise come from the fact that they have been taught that African people they were accepted, when there was in fact little acceptance, and surprising to many there is even less today.

The reason for so much of this comes from the fact that slavery is not acknowledged as being part of the history of the tribes, and students in Oklahoma today are not taught about slavery that took place on their own soil.

The interview continues:

This segment indicated that there was little change to the lives

of the Choctaw slaves even in Freedom.

The policies of a different set of rules for Freedmen was actually addressed in her interview.

The interviewer Mr. Gower outlines the sentiments of the day (and interestingly today). The treatment or mistreatment towards those possessing African blood was not only legal for the policy makers, but it was also considered to be smart and somehow protective. This treatment of Freedmen and their descendants was somehow "protection," supposedly against the Negroes who might harm the integrity of the tribe. It was described by the interviewer as wisdom that was actually greater than, as the he described it, the wisdom of Solomon.

This is such a strange statement to read and to absorb, and as both a researcher, and one who descends from Freedmen, it presents a sad statement that anti-black feelings are far larger than imagined, studied about, and admitted to by those from many communities.

This interview is shared here, because it is reflective of a policy enacted 100 years ago, supported to this day, and until further notice will continue.

Three years ago, a gentleman from the same county (LeFlore) submitted an application to the Choctaw Nation. The enrollment card alone was clear, that the mother was a Freedman and the father was a Choctaw Indian. The result was that the entire family of over 125 who had applied as a group were denied. Their rejection was based solely on an ancestor who had been placed on the Freedman roll. The father of the child was a well known Choctaw who had been a part of the tribal council and whose descendants from his other wife were easily admitted. Their admission ticket---having a mother who had no Negro blood.

This interview was one of the more fascinating ones from the Pioneer Papers, and it explains the origins of policies practiced today.

The greater irony, that Freedmen descendants, tax paying citizens of the United States are among the only people paying with their tax dollars for their own discrimination.

Sadly those who speak with such warmth and good feelings have an unpleasant surprise awaiting them, should they submit applications for enrollment.

Earlier Map Discovered on Mysterious Negro Settlement in Indian Territory

2010-11-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

On August 8 of this year I posted an article about an interesting African American settlement located on the banks of the Canadian River, in what is now Cleveland County Oklahoma.

In that article, the earliest map was that I had found was a map from 1879 revealing a settlement simply referred to as the Negro Settlement. This settlement was reflected for several decades, and then as suddenly as it appeared---it disappeared from the maps and from the pages of history. In fact, it never appeared on the pages of the state's history.

Mr. Jason Clark, a California based researcher, who owns land in the nearby town of present day Slaughterville Oklahoma saw the article and wrote to me after reading the article. While on a recent trip home to Oklahoma, he did some searching at the courthouse, and he located an earlier map of the same area. This map reflected a similar location, to a degree, with two interesting notations on that map: one reflected Negro Huts, designation "Negro Huts" and less than a mile away, on home of the map, noted as "Negro House."
Was this a boarding house, or a structure for one family? Right above the notation for Section 29 were the
"Negro Huts". The question is---were the "huts" on this earlier map reflecting the same settlement?

Like the other maps, there was a road coming from a northeasterly direction, but nothing called the Cheyenne Agency Road. The road on this earlier map was simply referred to as a Wagon Trail.

This was less than 10 years since the end of the Civil War, and also for the release of slaves from bondage in nearby Chickasaw Nation. Many Chickasaw Freedmen did live several miles to the south of this point, but this was not in a Chickasaw Freedmen, community. It was south and west of any Seminole Freedmen areas, and it was not near any Choctaw Freedmen areas.

So the mystery still continues as to what this community was, and who the inhabitants might have been. Were the Negro Huts simply near the designated Negro House by accident or was there a relationship between the occupants?