The five largest southeastern Indian groups-the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles-were forced to emigrate west to the Indian territory (now Oklahoma) in the 1830s.
During this period, Oklahoma Indians functioned autonomously, holding their own elections, enforcing their own laws, and creating their own soc.
Here, from WPA interviews are those Indians\' own stories of the troubled years between the Civil War and Oklahoma statehood-a period of extraordinary turmoil.
The five largest southeastern Indian groups-the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles-were forced to emigrate west to the Indian territory (now Oklahoma) in the 1830s