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slaves owned by ndns?

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Richard L. Allen:
Cherokee abolition of slavery enacted February 1863.

John Ross was now described by the Confederate Cherokees as “the former chief??? and by Union forces as “the chief in exile.???  In order to command any influence in Washington he had to demonstrate that he still spoke for a significant body of his people.  For this purpose the Home Guard regiments decided to sustain the continuity of the Ross government by holding their own Council meetings in their corner of the Nation.  This took place in February 1863, at Cowskin Prairie in the northeastern part of the Nation.  The records of this Council indicate that its first acts were to abrogate the treaty with the Confederacy, to depose all Confederate Cherokees from office, to confirm John Ross as chief, and to elect Thomas Peggs as “acting chief.???  Other laws declared abolition of slavery and the confiscation of all property belonging to those who adhered to the Confederacy.  The former affected slaves in the Nation, for few were owned by the fullbloods who held this Council;l  the latter allowed the Home Guards to loot the homes of “rebels??? as Watie’s men robbed and looted “the Feds.???  The Cherokees now had two Governments at war with each other, and until 1865 a ruthless guerilla warfare between them devastated the homes, fields, and livestock of both sides.  Between them the Loyal and the Confederate Cherokees destroyed every vestige of material progress they had achieved in the West since 1839.  No state in the Union or the Confederacy suffered such losses in men and property in proportion to their population and wealth (W.G. McLoughlin, Champions of the Cherokees:  Evan and John B. Jones, 1990, pps. 408-09).


And in the following letter:  To William P. Dole dated April 2nd 1863 from Principal Chief John Ross (G. E. Moulton, The Papers of Chief John Ross, 1985, pps. 534-35 ).

Sir
“In addressing you on the present occasion, I have the honor to state, I have been advised that a special Session of the National Council of the Cherokee Nation was convened at Cowskin Prairie in Febry, last, and the following bills were passed.
     1st Abrogating the “Treaty??? with “the Confederate States??? and calling a General Convention of the people to approve the act…
     6th An act providing for the abolition of slavery in the Cherokee Nation."

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And I suppose one could begin a discussion of the Buffalo Soldiers role against Indian people to provide a different view.

educatedindian:
I'm glad you brought that up. It puts the emancipation of slaves in the Cherokee Nation barely a month after Lincoln's Proclamation. And unlike Lincoln, it initially does actually free slaves.

I could also point out, as far as I know, no Indian nations have ever demanded any kind of compensation from the Black community for deaths caused by the Buffalo Soldiers.

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