Black History is Oklahoma History

The forced removal of the Five Tribes from their homelands in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory in the 1830s also included the African American slaves owned by many tribal members. The transition of these slaves to American citizenship is unique in the history of race relations in the United States. It was a journey filled with contentious negotiation among factions of the Indian nations, the federal government, capitalist developers, black and white agricultural colonizers, and the freedmen themselves. Efforts to secure the rights of the freedmen represented one aspect of the struggle that ultimately opened Indian lands to non-Indian settlement.