The Real History of The Cherokee, Slavery and Juneteenth
The Real History of The Cherokee, Slavery and Juneteenth Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in Texas and is widely celebrated as the symbolic end of slavery in the United States. However, it was not the absolute end of slavery everywhere in U.S. territory. The Cherokee Nation, along with other Native nations known as the Five Civilized Tribes, also held African American slaves, and emancipation there followed a different timeline. By 1860, the Cherokee were the largest slaveholders among the Five Tribes, with around 4,600 enslaved people. The Cherokee National Council passed emancipation acts in February 1863, officially abolishing slavery in the Cherokee Nation and making them the only one of the Five Tribes to do so during the Civil War. However, enforcement was inconsistent, especially among pro-Confederate Cherokee, and many enslaved people were not immediately freed. The final, legally binding end to slavery in the Cherokee Nation came with the Treaty of 1866, after the Civ...