Topic: Five Civilized Tribes

Five Civilized Tribes inclusive term used since mid-19th cent. for the Cherokee , Chickasaw , Choctaw , Creek , and Seminole tribes of E Oklahoma. By 1850 some 60,000 members of these tribes were settled in the Indian Territory under the Removal Act of 1830, which provided that this territory was to be held communally on the condition that the tribes surrendered certain land rights E of the Mississippi River. These tribes never lived on a reservation and were officially recognized as domestic dependent nations. Before crossing the Mississippi River, the Cherokee and the Creek... Read more