Five Native American nations entered treaties with the Confederacy during the Civil War, while some of their citizens held African Americans in slavery. The Reconstruction treaties of 1866 established freedom and varying citizenship, land, and financial protections for Freedmen. More than 160 years later, the consequences of those agreements continue to shape legal disputes and questions of historical accountability.
Freed, But Not Fully Included: The 1866 Treaties and the Structure of Recognition Without Stability
The 1866 treaties freed enslaved people in Native nations but did not secure full inclusion. This piece examines Freedmen citizenship, land, and ongoing legal battles.


