MCLOUD, Okla. — Tribal members whose forebears were held in bondage by various Oklahoma tribal nations are beginning to gain better access to Native American healthcare, educational opportunities, and social programs, though significant obstacles persist.
Government and tribal organizations have collaborated over recent years to make eligibility standards clearer and educate frontline workers, but a new Government Accountability Office study released before Black History Month demonstrates that additional efforts are needed regarding how Freedmen descendants are treated.
The coronavirus outbreak helped expose what veteran advocate Marilyn Vann described as unequal treatment of these descendants. She highlighted prominent instances where individuals were refused vaccines and financial assistance during the pandemic’s peak.
“There are certainly more opportunities available today, but that doesn’t erase the damage,” Vann stated, noting that a “chilling effect” discourages many Freedmen descendants from pursuing services they have a right to receive.
The Cherokee, Seminole, Muscogee, Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes are among those whose members held people in slavery during the 1800s. After the Civil War ended, these tribes entered into agreements with the federal government that ended slavery and promised tribal membership to Freedmen and their offspring.
Currently, only the Cherokee Nation provides complete citizenship to Freedmen descendants that matches the rights of “by blood” members under tribal regulations. The Seminole nation permits descendants to participate in voting and serve on the general council while limiting their access to specific tribal membership benefits. Descendants of Muscogee, Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen are presently refused tribal membership entirely.
The GAO study discovered that registered Cherokee and Seminole Freedmen descendants are occasionally required to provide evidence of “Indian blood” when requesting assistance, and that the Seminole Nation has essentially banned these descendants from obtaining federally supported housing, educational, and senior services.
“We need to expose this modern-day racism,” Vann declared.
John Beecham, a Freedman member of the Cherokee Nation, understood he qualified for affordable education at Haskell Indian Nations University. When the institution moved to online classes in 2020, he decided to submit an application.
Several weeks afterward, he got correspondence from the federally operated tribal college in Kansas requesting documentation showing his level of “Indian blood.”
“The situation felt unjust, as though I was experiencing discrimination,” Beecham explained, having submitted his enrollment card to demonstrate tribal membership.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin intervened to confirm Beecham’s membership status and encouraged Haskell to review his application. Following months of postponement, the institution changed its position and told Beecham he should apply again.
“I wondered, ‘If they’re treating me this way during applications, attending school there might be difficult,’” Beecham said, who felt disturbed by the situation and decided against reapplying.
The U.S. Bureau of Indian Education, which manages two tribal colleges including Haskell and numerous K-12 tribal schools, released a clarification letter in 2024 stating that “eligible Indian students” encompass all members of federally recognized tribes and that tribal enrollment cards sufficiently prove eligibility.
A Bureau spokesperson indicated the agency cannot verify whether Freedmen descendants have registered at its institutions recently because it doesn’t distinguish these descendants from other tribal members in its documentation.
Beecham, who currently works for a railroad technology firm in California, has “found closure” regarding the incident but believes he would probably earn more money if Haskell had accepted him into a bachelor’s degree program. He hasn’t requested any other tribal member services since then.
Some descendants have remained determined.
Mark McClain, a Freedmen member of the Cherokee Nation, performed an unofficial evaluation of Indian Health Service facilities throughout Oklahoma. From 2018 to 2020, he reported that six facilities requested evidence of “Indian blood” before registering him as a patient. When he objected, McClain said IHS personnel sometimes responded with antagonism.
In 2021, following an internal policy examination, the agency clarified that Freedmen descendants only need to demonstrate membership in a federally recognized tribe to obtain IHS treatment. The agency also conducted training for personnel in its Oklahoma City region on proper eligibility evaluation.
Consequently, McClain now receives care at the Kickapoo Tribal Health Center that previously rejected him.
The GAO investigation determined that the Seminole Nation bars Freedmen descendants from federally supported programs managed by the tribe through technical restrictions. For instance, senior assistance, educational scholarships and funeral benefits are provided through a fund only available to tribal members who possess a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood and descend from the Seminole Nation as it existed in 1823 — before “Black Seminoles” gained citizenship recognition.
The Seminole Nation distributes federal housing aid using a scoring method that, the GAO found, favors “by blood” members of all tribes and gives Seminole Freedmen descendants zero points for priority consideration.
Freedmen descendants are already disadvantaged by slavery’s legacy and Jim Crow segregation in Oklahoma, according to Loretta Osborne-Sampson, who represents one of two Seminole Freedmen groups on the tribe’s general council.
“We hope our tribe will show compassion and acknowledge that we’re here to stay,” Osborne-Sampson said, adding that many in her community experience poverty and cannot afford secure housing while their tribe essentially prevents them from receiving help.
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma did not reply to email inquiries regarding eligibility for its federally funded social programs.
Freedmen descendants in the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations are currently not acknowledged as tribal members and cannot access tribal services including healthcare, education or housing.
In the previous year, the Muscogee Nation Supreme Court overturned a constitutional provision adopted in the 1970s that mandated citizens be Muscogee “by blood,” creating opportunities for Freedmen descendants to join the tribe.
However, the decision hasn’t been implemented.
In a progress report submitted to the court in December, Principal Chief David Hill stated the tribe’s national council must pass new legislation and possibly modify the constitution before citizenship can be granted to Freedmen descendants. The Muscogee Nation did not respond to emailed questions about when these changes might occur.
Cherokee Nation’s Hoskin has described slavery as a “moral blemish” on his tribe’s past. During an interview, he shared hope that other tribes will eventually acknowledge their Freedmen descendants.
“(Freedmen descendants) want recognition and they want their history to be acknowledged after being silenced for many generations,” Hoskin said. “That process will require time.”
