Abstract
This Note concerns the role the government has played in the exclusion of Black Freedmen from Native American nations through its implementation and interpretation of the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity ("tribal sovereignty" or "tribal immunity"). Part I discusses the background of the Freedmen within the Five Civilized Tribes and provides an overview of the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity, including its role in the controversy concerning the status of Black Indians. Part II discusses the interpretations given to the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity by United States courts and executive agencies and the effects of those interpretations on relations between Native Americans and Freedmen. Part III discusses the roles that Congress, executive agencies, and the courts must take to halt and reverse the discriminatory practices that have stripped Freedmen of their rights and privileges as members of Native American communities.
Recommended Citation
Terrion L. Williamson,
The Plight of "Nappy-Headed" Indians: The Role of Tribal Sovereignty in the Systematic Discrimination Against Black Freedmen by the Federal Government and Native American Tribes,
10
Mich. J. Race & L.
233
(2004).
Available at:
https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol10/iss1/7
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