The Atlantic Magazine podcast The Experiment has a fascinating episode this month that looks at the status of African Americans descended from those held as slaves by members of the Cherokee nation before the Civil War. In 1866, the Cherokee signed a treaty ending slavery and seemingly incorporating the former slaves into the Cherokee nation forever. In the 20th Century, the Cherokee withdrew tribal membership from its Blacks. The podcast looks at the racial animus that led to the restrictions, and how some of the Freedmen successfully challenged the restriction over the last few years. The story is fascinating.
Here is the podcast player.
Here is the Atlantic’s description of the show:
From the time she was a little girl, Marilyn Vann knew she was Black and she was Cherokee. But when she applied for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation as an adult, she was denied. What followed was a journey into a dark part of Cherokee history that not many people know about and even fewer understand: Vann and her family are descended from people who were enslaved by the Cherokee Nation. They were freed after the Civil War, but that wasn’t the end of their struggle. In 1866, the Cherokee Nation made a promise—a promise of citizenship for these “freedmen” and their descendants. But in the years that followed, that promise would be at the center of a battle between civil rights and sovereignty.
Follow Reconstruction Blog on Social Media:
Interesting podcast. I recently visited a Choctaw Cultural Center and their museum included galleries explaining their slavery past and role in the Civil War.
One of the things on my to-do list is to investigate the “Pin” Cherokees. I know they treated separately from the Watie band of Cherokees following the war but I don’t know their history during Reconstruction and after.