The controversy had resulted in several legal proceedings between the two parties from the late 20th century to August 2017.ĭuring the antebellum period, the Cherokee and other Southeast Native American nations known as the Five Civilized Tribes held African-American slaves as workers and property. The Cherokee Freedmen controversy was a political and tribal dispute between the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and descendants of the Cherokee Freedmen regarding the issue of tribal membership. Native American tribal membership dispute
