The thirteenth amendment: reconsidering its impact on tribal governments and Indian Country

Abstract

Ample scholarship exists regarding American Indians and the Civil War. Likewise, an extensive amount of research exists on the subject of the weakening of state power in the wake of the Civil War. However, little attention has been directed toward the constitutional connection between the Civil War Amendments and their direct impact upon the sovereignty of tribal governments. This article attempts to demonstrate that the Thirteenth Amendment impacted the long term sovereignty of Indian Tribes by granting Congress the authority to directly expand its reach over Indian Country. The work begins with an introduction to the significance of the Thirteenth Amendment than turns the political climate in which it was passed. This is followed by a discussion of the specific connection of the Thirteenth Amendment to Indian Country via the experience of the Five Civilized Tribes in eastern Oklahoma. Next the article considers the effects of the Civil War upon the post-bellum Cherokee Nation and how constitutional realities such as the Thirteenth Amendment impacted the Cherokee Nation’s long term political independence and sovereignty. Contemporary matters such as the Freedmen’s Issue within the modern Cherokee Nation are presented for consideration. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the unique, direct historical connection of the Thirteenth Amendment to Oklahoma’s Five Civilized Tribes, the paradoxical nature of the freedom of individuals versus the freedom of peoples, and the enduring issue of paternalism versus self-determination in Indian Country.