DOJ Asked to Investigate Tribes' Treatment of Freedmen

Several prominent Democrats, some of them members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate five Indian tribes for allegedly violating the civil rights of Freedmen, African Americans descended from freed slaves who were once owned by or who lived with Indian tribes. 

According to the Associated Press, in a letter dated April 30, lawmakers asked Holder to investigate the “illegal expulsion” of Freedmen for the Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek nations. 

The issue has placed the Obama Administration in the middle of a battle between traditional Democrats -- African Americans and Native Americans. 

Two years ago, the Cherokee Nation voted to amend its constitution to restrict tribal membership to blood descendents and the Congressional Black Caucus tried to restrict federal funding to the tribe -- a move that was not supported by then-candidate Barrack Obama. 

Last May, in a statement issued to the Tulsa World, Obama said:

“Tribal sovereignty must mean that the place to resolve intertribal disputes is the tribe itself. Our nation has learned with tragic results that federal intervention in internal matters of Indian tribes is rarely productive . . . This is not a legacy we want to continue.

However, speaking directly to the Cherokee Nation issue, Obama also expressed opposition to unwarranted tribal disenrollment and described discrimination anywhere as intolerable.

Cherokee Want Federal Court to Decide on Freedmen

In a complaint filed Tuesday in Federal District Court in Tulsa, the Cherokee Nation asked a federal judge to declare that the descendents of freedmen – freed slaves that lived with the Cherokee Nation – have no federal rights to citizenship in the tribe. 

The Nation argues that the descendents of Freedmen lost their right to citizenship when Congress modified its treaty with the U.S. government in 1866 when it passed the Five Tribes Act. Read about it here.

Freedmen Issue Dogs Cherokee Nation

According to Indianz.com the members of the Congressional Black Caucus have told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that they will block reauthorization of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act until the citizenship status of the Freedmen is addressed. An amendment to the legislation prohibits giving federal funds to the Cherokee Nation unless it restores the Freedmen to citizenship. In addition, last week at the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Conference, Allison Binney, the staff director for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee said the House is considering adding a similar provision to its version of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.