Press Release – March 20, 2009
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Marilyn Vann 405-818-5360
email: mkvann@yahoo.com
Norman Hightower – 918-360-2029
email: Hax.Muskogee@yahoo.com
Descendants of Freedmen and their Supporters to Demonstrate Outside Muskogee Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office on Friday March 27 2009
The Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association and their Supporters will lead a demonstration outside the Muskogee BIA office on Friday March 27 2009 beginning at 3 pm central time.
The BIA building is located at 3100 W Peak, Muskogee Oklahoma.
The Descendants of freedmen are persons of African descent whose ancestors were listed as
“freedmen tribal members” on the Dawes Indian rolls of the Five Tribes more than 100 years ago.
Tribal freedmen and their descendants gained tribal membership rights, rights to hold office, as well as economic rights in the tribes based on treaty agreements signed between the US government and the tribes in 1866. Today’s descendants of freedmen have been denationalized/disenrolled from their tribes in questionable tribal elections in which they were not allowed to participate (or had minimalparticipation) or are treated like second class tribal members – denied tribal benefits and the rights to hold tribal office.
Haven't heard any results from the protest yet, but as soon as anyon e does i will post it here. Your site has also been diligent in keeping up with this action, and I thank you.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to add this link, though dated, which really sets the foundation for the the Cherokee freedmen descendants issue, and it was written before the actual dis-enrollments were legalized. From 2006 a significant read:
http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/015794.asp
Allen