Choctaw Freedmen at the Dawes Comission

When and where did Freedmen go to have their families interviewed in front of the Dawes Commission? 

Many people assume that everyone was interviewed in the same place. And in many cases it si assumed that Muskogee was the site. However, that is not the case. There were specific places where the interviews were held in each of the Five Nations.  In some cases the site was near the family's home, but in other cases people had to travel by horse, or wagon to get to the enrollment site and camp there for several days before appearing before the Dawes commissioners.  

In early 1899 notices were put up throughout the Choctaw Nation to inform the public of the plan to accept applications for through the Dawes Commission. Choctaw Freedmen were included in the registration process. And in many Dawes files the interview site is mentioned as it was often mentioned in the transcription of the family official interview.

A document recent found in the Congressional record refers to the schedule for citizens of the Choctaw Nation. Here is the schedule as shown in the record:

Excerpt from 
60th Congress 1st Session, Senate Document No. 505 p. 14

Enrollment Sites:

Alikchi  April 18-May 4, 1899

Goodland May 8-May 12, 1899

Antlers May 15-May 19, 1899

Tuskahoma  May 22- May 26, 1899

Talihinia  May 29-June 2, 1899

Wister June 5-June 9, 1899

Oak Lodge June 12-June 16, 1899

Red Oak June 19-June 30, 1899

Hartshorne  July 3-July 7, 1899

Calvin July 10-July 14, 1899

Durant  July 17-July 21, 1899

Caddo  July 24-July 28, 1899

Atoka July 31-Aug 11, 1899

South McAlester  Aug 14-Aug 25, 1899

South Canadian  Aug 28-Aug 31

This information can illustrate how the enrollment process must have caused much excitement as well as anxiety for the enrollees. Some had to travel while others who lived nearby saw a large influx pouring into their communities.  Some of the images that are reflected are quite indicative of the activity this had to have caused for families.

Hundreds of people filed into the places established in the local communities over a 4-5 days period. It was not clear the order in which people were taken once they arrived at the enrollment site, but many did await their turn to enter the tents outside on the enrollment camp site. One photo, familiar to many shows a group of Choctaw Freedmen awaiting the process to extend to them.

Choctaw Freedmen Awaiting Ernollment
Courtesy of the Archives & Manuscript Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

The many hundreds of people awaiting their turn to enroll had to have brought about an atmosphere of excitement and energy. Some took advantage of the many people pouring into the communities by selling products and wares to the oncoming crowds. One image captured Freedmen setting up a small make shift stand to sell clothing to passers by.

Freedmen Camped at Ft. Gibson
     Aylesworth Album Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society

The entire enrollment process took more than ten years to complete. The rolls first closed in 1907, but then reopened to add a few more that had not been on the original roll. They were finally closed in 1914. There were over 20 thousand freedmen enrolled after the process had ended. 

When the final roll was closed, in 1906, there were 91,637 from all of the categories of the Five Tribes.
The total number of Freedmen in Indian Territory in 1906 was 20,766. (Cherokee Freedmen numbered 3982. Creek Freedmen numbered 5585. Chickasaw Freedmen numbered 4995. Seminole Freedmen numbered 857 (with 93 added later). Choctaw Freedmen numbered 5254.)

Freedmen from the Territory made up more than 20% of the Dawes Enrollees. Their presences and multigenerational presence in the nations, has them not only firmly planted on the soil of Indian Territory, but also strongly attached to the nations of their birth. Choctaw Freedmen. From Alikchi to Atoka, from Tuskahoma to Talihina, they were there. Their presence through their having been brought there, toiled there, and died there earned them the right to the citizenship long denied. The struggles of their descendants continue to this day.