A lawsuit filed by Cherokee Nation against the Freedmen will be heard in federal court in Washington, D.C., a judge ruled last week.

The tribe sued the Interior Department and five individual Freedmen in the Northern District of Oklahoma. But the judge moved the case to District Court for DC because a similar case is already being heard there.

The Freedmen are the descendants of former slaves held within the Cherokee Nation. A post-Civil War treaty said the Freedmen are entitled to Cherokee citizenship.

The Cherokee Nation contends a subsequent act of Congress stripped the Freedmen of their rights under the treaty. The tribe says only Freedmen who can prove they have an Indian ancestor on the Dawes Roll are entitled to citizenship.

Get the Story:
Freedmen suit challenge sent to D.C. (The Tulsa World 7/7)

District Court Decision:
Cherokee Nation v. Nash (July 2, 2010)