After
the War of 1812 the U.S. government invited the Cherokee, Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Indians to move west into what
would become the Indian Territory. These Indians were
known as the "Five Civilized Tribes" because of their advanced systems
of government, education and law enforcement. The Cherokee even boasted an
alphabet, invented by the famous Sequoyah. Some Cherokee were small farmers,
while others owned slaves.
With great sadness,
these "Five Civilized Tribes" left their homes east of the Mississippi
River and began their long journey westward.
The most famous exodus involved the Cherokee. A portion
of the tribe had already moved to Arkansas in the late 18th century. The rest
were uprooted from Georgia and Tennessee by the Removal Act of 1830. Their move through Missouri and Arkansas in winter took many lives and
came to be called the Trail of Tears.
By 1856, each of the
Five Civilized Tribes established territorial boundaries in the western frontier. They
began carving farms and cultures out of the Oklahoma wilderness, creating a
society which continues to influence Oklahoma.
The Civil War
Oklahoma's Indians
were generally left in peace until the Civil War. During the war,
Indians who tried to remain neutral were attacked by Confederate forces. After
the Civil War, the federal government punished the Five Civilized Tribes for
siding with the Confederacy by taking away the western part of Indian Territory,
which would become Oklahoma Territory.
Native
Americans Today
In 1905, the Five
Civilized Tribes attempted to organize an Indian state named Sequoyah. The
federal government rejected this idea in favor of creating a single state
combining the Oklahoma and Indian Territories. More than reservation wards,
Oklahoma's Native Americans become a vital part of the new state.
Today, Oklahoma
boasts the largest Native American population in the nation—252,420 at the
1990 census. Many of them are descendents from the original 67 tribes inhabiting
Indian Territory, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole,
Osage, Cheyenne, Sac and Fox, Delaware, Panee and Apache.
Famous Oklahoman
Native Americans include Sequoyah, Black Beaver (a famous Delaware Indian
scout), Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe, Wilma
Mankiller (first woman Principal Chief
of the Cherokee) and ballerina Maria Tallchief.