The Freedmen Files

Episode 38 Celebrating Freedom in Indian Territory

As we celebrate Freedom through the holiday of Juneteenth, let us examine, and celebrate how and when Freedom came to Indian Territory. None of the three gestures of freedom or emancipation in the US affected the enslaved people in the Five Nations. The Emancipation Proclamation, the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, as well as the Juneteenth announcements in Galveston Texas, all bypassed the enslaved families in the Five Nations. Juneteenth can however be viewed as a symbolic day to celebrate freedom. And beyond that, we as descendants of Oklahoma Freedmen should make the effort to find those freedom stories, because it came in different ways in each tribe, and in each domicile. However, Juneteenth kicks of an entire season of Freedom, from the 19th of June, to the 4th of August, we call their names, learn the dates that are significant, and we relish the resilience of our ancestors to come out of that institution that bound them to others and their ability to still rise up and raise the following generations, in dignity, peace and freedom. So as many of us celebrate Freedom, we too can embrace this symbolic day and commit to not only finding their stories--ous stories and to walk into the future as a free people richly connected and nurtured by our past. We are free!

Episode 37 Caesar Bruner & Rich Seminole History

This was an effort to capture details from the life of Caesar Bruner leader and founder of the Bruner band of Seminole Freedmen. But the more I researched Caesar the man, the more I learned about the very dynamic structure of the communities of Seminole Freedmen. This is a community of many parts, based in Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, as well as Florida, The Bahamas, and also the Gullah Geechee communities of South Carolina. Caesar Bruner was a dynamic leader surrounded by an even more dynamic community of survivors, leaders, warriors and more.

Conversation With Kenneth Ford

On this first 5th Monday taping, I had a wonderful conversation with Kenneth, founder of the Descendant Freedmen Alliance of Kansas City. Mr. Ford's ancestry comes out of the Creek Freedman Sells family from Taft Oklahoma. He has become a leader in the Kansas City area, in organizing a group of Oklahoma Freedmen descendants to gather, and study their history coming from the Five Tribes. In this conversation we learn about the how he made a discovery about his own history and later learning how many of ther families in the greater Kansas City area share a similar family story. (To save time for listerners, fast forward to the 30 second mark on the recording where the conversation begins. This will bypass the silent space on the tape.)

Episode 35 Isaac Alexander A Leader of Leaders

This is the story of a man who enlisted in the Union Army when he was in his late 30s and nearly 40, and ended up participating in several major battles in Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory. After the war he became an advocate for Chickasaw Freedmen and even traveled to Washington DC to present a memorial to Congress from the Freedmen Community. Isaac Alexander who also emerged as patriarch to two large family clans, has a distinguished history and hopefully will have a story that will no longer be ommitted from the anals of Oklahoma nor Chickasaw history.

Episode 34 Record Reflecting Early Life of Freedmen

This episode explores the records that can tell you more about lives of Oklahoma Freedmen many decades before the Dawes era. Slave Schedules, Indian Pioneer Papers, WPA Slave Narratives, Family Search tribal records, and Ancestry US Marriages, Citizenship and Census 1841-1927, are some amazing collections that might open doors for you. Take a deeper dive into some of these records and hopefully you will come out with a more indepth understanding about the lives of your ancestors.