Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Association of Oklahoma 

18663 3rd Street

Spiro, OK 74959

479-420-7104

The Organization

The Choctaw Chickasaw Freedmen of  Oklahoma is an organization founded in Ft. Coffee Oklahoma. The purpose of the organization is to work with the local community to research, document and celebrate the unique history, heritage and legacy of the Freedmen of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations.

The Freedmen were the former slaves of the two nations that migrated to Indian Territory in the 1830s.  Freed by the treaty of 1866 the two groups remained in the the land of their birth, according to the traditions of the land where they were born. Many of the Freedmen emerged as leaders in their communities as they made efforts to establish themselves on footing the the land where many and their elders had once been enslaved.  The challenges that faced the former slaves were grave as they negotiated life in the Territory.

The Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Association, seeks to encourage research, explore the history of the eastern communities of Oklahoma, and to support the efforts of the inclusion of the Freedmen in the histories of their nations, to inform the community of the issues as they effect the Freedmen and their descendants, and to express solidarity with others who have concerns and interests of the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes.

Officers of the organization are:

Verdie Triplett, Founder, Public Relations & Contact

LeVester McKesson, President    

Jimmy Frazier, Vice President

Evora McKesson, Secretary

Alice Swaite, Treasurer

Researchers:
Tonia Holleman,  Genealogist and Researcher
Angela Y. Walton-Raji  Genealogist, Author, & Researcher

Membership Information

Meet the Founder

Honoring our Elders

Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen's Association Take Issues to Congress       

The Choctaw Chickasaw Freedmen Association of Oklahoma was responsible for bringing the recent issues pertaining to the Freedmen to the attention of the Congressional Black Caucus. The organization launched a petition drive in the community of Ft. Coffee Oklahoma, and within 1 week, over 300 signatures were obtained and an official letter mailed to Congress. The effort resulted in a response from the National Council of Black Women, and a letter from the Black Caucus to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, (the BIA), demanding that an investigation be launched into this federally funded disenfranchisement of citizens of the Five slaveholding tribes---Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole nations.

More about the pro-active political initiatives of the organization can be found here:

Political Initiatives of Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen's Association of Oklahoma