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Tuesday, November 18, 2003

"The Indian tribes that were evicted from their lands in the East and resettled in what is now Oklahoma typically included black people, most of them slaves. Black Indians have largely disappeared from frontier history, but a determined group has refused to go quietly into oblivion. One of them, a soft-spoken Head Start teacher named Sylvia Davis, has battled the federal government and the Seminole tribe in court for nearly a decade, trying to secure for black Seminoles the federally financed benefits enjoyed by nonblack Seminoles.

The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs took a step toward fairness recently when it made some black Seminoles eligible for a few low-level benefits � though not the food, medical, prescription and housing aid that is extended to nonblack Seminoles. But having recognized that the black Seminoles are entitled to at least some benefits, the federal government will have trouble rationalizing a piecemeal award."

Get the Story:
Brent Staples: The Black Seminole Indians Keep Fighting for Equality in the American West (The New York Times 11/18)
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Relevant Links:
Estelusti Foundation - http://www.estelusti.com
African Native Americans - http://www.african-nativeamerican.com

Related Stories:
BIA extends federal services to Seminole Freedmen (10/27)
Letter: Letter: 'Bigotry' of Cherokee and Seminole leaders (09/19)
Editorial: Black Indians victims of discrimination (09/12)
Seminole Freedmen locked out of tribal rights (9/11)
Cherokee Freedmen caught in high-level dispute (08/20)
Tribes not always following treaties on Freedmen (08/18)
Cherokee Freedmen sue BIA for disenfranchisement (8/12)
Court tackles Seminole dispute (9/24)
The Seminole Nation's hanging chad (8/8)
Resolution of Seminole dispute sought in court (5/28)
Court decision rocks Seminole Nation (5/8)
Black Seminole appeal planned (5/1)
Black Seminoles dealt setback (4/30)
Black Seminole issue still divisive (10/29)

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