In 2025, an Echo of the 1800s: The Fight for Black Citizenship in the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations

Pondering the connection between the present crises—in higher education, in the United States, and in the broader world—and my research, this essay discusses the connection between the late 1800s fight for citizenship waged by the Black and mixed-race women and men enslaved by Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians (Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen) and the advocacy efforts of Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen and Chickasaw and Choctaw tribal citizens today. At a time when political leaders of the United States and tribal nations have shown they are not always willing to make the moral or ethical choices that best serve their communities, this essay asks what is possible if we redefine kinship outside of the framework of the settler and tribal states.