"Today we reach out to the Choctaw Freedmen. We see you. We hear you. We look forward to meaningful conversation regarding our shared past."`
-Gary Batton, Chief of the Choctaw Nation-May 27, 2021
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Chief Gary Batton has released an "Open Letter" on the Chief's Blog on the Choctaw Nation website. It was announced in his letter that the tribe is announcing an initiative to consider tribal membership for Choctaw Freedmen.
It was pointed out in the letter that "this initiative will engage Choctaw Freedmen, the Department of Interior, existing tribal members, our elected officials and membership department officials, and other Choctaw proud in listening sessions to present findings and a recommendation to Choctaw elected officials."
This open letter appears to be quite different from the letter sent to Speaker Pelosi earlier in the year. This letter also suggests that there is an interest in including Freedmen in the discussions, which had prior to this time never occurred.
The issue of Choctaw Freedmen has had much discussion over the years, in public and private venues, and in recent months, on numerous social media platforms. Choctaw Freedmen like Freedmen of the other tribes, have a history that extends back prior to statehood, the allotment process, westward expansion, reconstruction era, Civil War, and also prior to Removal. The political history and cultural history of Choctaw Freedmen, comes from a shared history, where people of African descent arrived at the same time as other Choctaws, in the land that later became Oklahoma.
Freedmen from the Choctaw Nation were a bi-cultural, bilingual people, and in some families, bi-racial people immersed into a Choctaw world. They emerged as a people who lived, worked and died as a Choctaw people.
This announcement from Chief Batton, comes at a time, when the eyes of the world are looking at Oklahoma. The 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre has brought many people to Oklahoma. The national and the inter-national press is now in Oklahoma to cover the events. But in addition to the Tulsa story, some of the journalists are asking questions about Oklahoma's black history, including that of the Oklahoma Freedmen. There are, as a result, looking at the former slave-holding tribes closely.
The news of the open letter coming out just prior to the weekend events in Tulsa is timely, and it provides an opportunity for the Choctaw Nation to embrace all of its past, and all of the people that are part of that history.
Choctaw Freedmen were those people, once enslaved in the Choctaw Nation.
Choctaw Freedmen were never enemies of the Choctaw Nation.
Choctaw Freedmen freed by treaty, remained there and lived faithfully on Choctaw soil, as Choctaw people.
Choctaw Freedmen were among the thousands who saw themselves as a Choctaws and today they now have thousands of descendants who consider themselves today to be among the "Choctaw proud."
The words of Chief Batton are welcomed words. Freedmen descendants now look and await the opportunity to engage with, listen to, and hopefully to learn from
each other. We are far more alike than not. And after over 100 years, the time has come to engage, again.
This indeed is BIG.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I did find it rather hilarious (read: ludicrous) when Batton initially stated in his response to Rep. Waters that it was the US Government that was at fault for forcing the issue of slavery onto the Choctaw.. that that issue is "between the Freedmen and the US Government", as if the United States forced the Choctaw and the rest of the FCT to adopt the custom of slavery. That, I believe is already known to not be true, for all five tribes adopted those customs, making it either an issue with all 5 sets of Freedmen and the US Government, or an issue with the tribes and their customs themselves; and seeing that the Cherokee already handled their issues regarding it, it's more likely to be the latter than the former.
There are some unanswered questions in his letter that I wonder if they should be asked.
The Dawes Roll. If they (both the Choctaw and the US) knew that some non-natives applied for the rolls to get land, and used bribes to federal agents to be selected, they then knew that these rolls were flawed... yet they went on to use those same rolls as the basis of their tribal membership??
Am I the only one to see flawed logic in that?
CDIB. According to Batton, the BIA is who issues the CDIB to approved applicants. Those degrees are based on the Dawes rolls, and a person must trace their blood ancestry to the Dawes Rolls. Batton explicitly states:
At this time, the US government also does not recognize Freedmen in its CDIB enrollment process.
Yet for the Cherokee, their registration packet requirements state:
To be eligible for a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB)/Tribal Citizenship with the Cherokee Nation, you must be able to provide documents that connect you to an enrolled lineal ancestor, who is listed on the “DAWES ROLL” FINAL ROLLS OF CITIZENS AND FREEDMEN OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES, Cherokee Nation with a blood degree.
If the US Government doesn't recognize Freedmen in its CDIB enrollment process, then how are the Cherokee using that same process and getting the Cherokee Freedmen recognized for a CDIB?
That makes no sense here, as if Batton is out of touch with the workings of his fellow tribes of the FCT.
Additionally, the ability to enroll the Freedmen would require an amendment to the tribe's constitution. If such an amendment is required, and an amendment to disenfranchise the Freedmen occurred in 1983, that means that from the time the Dawes Rolls (and even the Treaty of 1866) up until 1983, the BIA (the US Government) didn't have a problem with such recognition, which is contrary to what Batton is stating.
Again, these are just unanswered questions in which history (true, confirmed history) seem to completely contradict Batton's letter.
Nevertheless, you can tell that this is coming from a place of pressure. I think we all can agree that this would be a lot better if it came to them organically, but you can tell that the factors mentioned in the blog post that a hand is being forced. I'm not complaining; any chance to engage in this is truly welcome. Has an avenue for engaging in dialogue been created yet? I would certainly love to participate.