Robert Banks, Cherokee Freedman
Gelatin silver print, limited edition (50), Kodak T-Max 400 Film, Ilford multi-grade fiber paper, signed, 13x11, 650 USD
In the early 1800s, some Cherokees acquired African American slaves who accompanied the tribe when it was forced to relocate to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. A post-Civil War treaty granted former slaves, or “Freedmen,” all the rights of Native Cherokees. However, in the early 1980s the Cherokee Nation declared that only those “Cherokee by blood” qualified for tribal citizenship. Descendants of Freedmen continue to press for recognition and their treaty rights.