US Black Heritage Oklahoma Freedmen

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: black_heritage Oklahoma

US Black Heritage Project

The Oklahoma Freedmen were Black men, women, and children both free and enslaved who lived among the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma. Slavery was not abolished among the tribes until 1866, three years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. By 1906, over 20,000 people were classified as Freedmen from the Five Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations.

Documenting the Freedmen

Freedmen are documented on the tribal rolls and can be found at Ancestry.com's database called U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895-1914. The tribe they lived among will be documented on each card.

Here is an example Freedmen card for Mark Franklin at Ancestry.

Always check the back of each card! Additional information is listed including their former slave owner.

Please use the Heritage Exchange system for documenting slavery or add [[Category: Heritage Exchange]] if you would like someone from the Heritage Exchange Team to document the slavery era information for you.

For Cherokee Freedmen, see also: Finding a Cherokee Freedman Ancestor for more information.

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Instead of <Slaves by county location> categories, please add one of the corresponding tribal Freedmen categories.

[[Category:Cherokee Nation Freedmen]]

[[Category:Chickasaw Nation Freedmen]]

[[Category:Choctaw Nation Freedmen]]

[[Category:Creek Nation Freedmen]]

[[Category:Seminole Nation Freedmen]]

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Please add the African American Sticker {{African-American Sticker}}

and

{{Occupation |image=US_Black_Heritage_Oklahoma_Freedmen.png|text=was a freedman of the Choctaw Tribe.}} (Change the Tribal name as needed. Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek or Seminole)
OR
{{Occupation |image=US_Black_Heritage_Oklahoma_Freedmen.png|text=is a descendant of a freedman of the Choctaw Tribe.}} (Change the Tribal name as needed. Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek or Seminole)

gives you:

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Please note: Appearing on an Indian census roll as a Freedman does not mean they were being acknowledged as Indian by blood. It was an acknowledgement that they lived among the tribe. The card will state they were either a Freedman or Indian by blood (or both). Do not mark someone as having Native American heritage if they were only marked as a Freedman with one exception as noted below.

Many Freedmen had a Native American parent (usually the father), but were not necessarily acknowledged as Indian by blood. In these cases, the father is almost always listed on the card (and very often is listed as the slave owner as well). This takes additional research to confirm if the parent was Native American. They should have a tribal card acknowledging they are Indian by blood or they will be found on a tribal census record.

If they were Native American by blood, as documented on the card, you may use the Native American sticker. Always include the name of the tribe. This sticker can only be used in cases where tribal affiliation was documented.

If their tribal heritage was not acknowledged, but you believe they were Native American by blood based on a known parent as explained above, please use this sticker: {{Heritage Sticker|ancestors=Native American|image=The_LaPlante_Files-37.jpg}}

which gives you

... has Native American ancestors.

Lewis Rowe is an example of someone who had a half Cherokee father, but his Cherokee blood was not acknowledged by the tribe. The Heritage Sticker has been used on his profile.

Sources

• https://www.okhistory.org/learn/freedmen
• https://www.ccfanow.org/