A
Century of Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen History 1840-1940
The Chronicles of
Freedmen in Newspaper Articles & Editorials
The Obligation of the
United States Government to the Chickasaw Freedmen
The Daily Ardmoreite
June 29, 1897 p2c3
It is clear from much of the documentation and history of
the Chickasaw Nation, the formerly enslaved population that was the subject of
the Treaty of 1866 and their citizenship in the nation continued to be
problematic for the Chickasaw Nation and the United States when it involved
their rights in the nation of their birth.
As Indian Territory moved closer to being abolished as a nation the Chickasaw Freedmen continued to suffer from the abuses of the
Chickasaw nation and the freedmen enlisted the help of Congress to remedy their
condition by submitting memorials that demonstrated the need for Congress to
intervene on their behalf to protect their rights that were part of the
treaty signed in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1866.
It is important that
we look at history and how it can be insightful for current events and the
obligation of “all branches of the government in legislative, executive and
judicial” when the descendants of Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen are again
petitioning the same three branches of the United States government concerning
the adherence to the “rights and privileges of citizenship” that was written in
the Treaty of 1866.
How much more time must pass for the people of the Chickasaw and
Choctaw nation understand their history is our history and we must share in all
the programs provided for these two nations; as equals?
Much time has passed and our ties have become distant only
because our ancestors were stripped of their rights memorialized in the same treaty
that today is being used to subsidize housing, healthcare, create wealth and business opportunities that have
excluded the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen in the past and their descendants
today.
In this article that was written almost one-hundred and
twenty years ago it discusses the “fair, just or equitable conclusion of the
matter that the Chickasaw Freedmen are entitled, under the Choctaw and
Chickasaw treaty of 1866” and here we are, again, seeking the rights and
privileges and immunities specified in that treaty.
The United States government along with the Choctaw and
Chickasaw nations attempted to send our ancestors on another “Trail of Tears” for
the paltry sum of $100 so the stain of slavery would be erased from their
doorstep. Fortunately, we are still here and unfortunately we are still seeking
the United States Congress to do what is “fair and equitable” for the
descendants of Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen.
For many descendants of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen
the last paragraph sums up Our position on the
responsibility of Congress, the Executive and Judicial branches of the United
States; “Justice and humanity demand that such action be taken by Congress as
will repair the neglect and resulting damage of the past…”
