Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

Oversight Hearing on “Select Provisions of the 1866 Reconstruction Treaties between the United States and Oklahoma Tribes”

Wednesday, July 27 2022 – 02:30 PM

Location: Dirksen

Room Number: 628

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs holds an oversight hearing titled “Select Provisions of the 1866 Reconstruction Treaties between the United States and Oklahoma Tribes” on July 27, 2022.

Following the end of the Civil War, the Cherokee Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Choctaw Nation, the Muscogee Nation and the Seminole Nation signed treaties with the United States in 1866. The government-to-government agreements contain various provisions addressing the Freedmen, the term applied to enslaved persons formerly held within the five tribes.

The oversight hearing, which takes place in Room 628 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building, addresses how the provisions of the 1866 treaties have been implemented. Representatives of the five tribes, the federal government and Freedmen descendants provide testimony.

Witness List

PANEL 1

The Honorable Maxine Waters

Congresswoman, California 43rd District

Washington, DC

PANEL 2

The Honorable Bryan Newland

Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

Washington, DC

The Honorable Chuck Hoskin, Jr.

Principal Chief

The Cherokee Nation

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

The Honorable Lewis J. Johnson

Chief

The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

Wewoka, Oklahoma

Accompanied by the Hon. Brian Thomas Palmer, Assistant Chief, The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

The Honorable Michael Burrage

General Counsel

The Choctaw Nation

Durant, Oklahoma

The Honorable Jonodev Chaudhuri

Ambassador

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Okmulgee, Oklahoma

Mr. Stephen Greetham

Senior Counsel

The Chickasaw Nation

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Ms. Marilyn Vann

President

The Descendants of Freedmen of the Fives Tribes Association

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Committee Notice:

https://www.indian.senate.gov/hearing/oversight-hearing-select-provisions-1866-reconstruction-treaties-between-united-states-and