Thank you to everyone who signed our petition. We're still looking for additional signatures before closing it out. Because we need more signatures, we would appreciate it if you would share this petition with your networks.  Also, we are still waiting to hear from Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton and will keep you posted as things progress. 

For those who are curious about the Black Freedman and would like to learn more about them or the Choctaw Freedmen in particular, check out the following resources.  

https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=FR016

https://www.okhistory.org/learn/freedmen

-Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage by William Loren Katz (https://www.amazon.com/Black-Indians-William-Loren-Katz/dp/1442446374 
-The Choctaw Freedman and the Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy by Robert Elliot Flickinger (https://www.amazon.com/Freedmen-Industrial-McCurtain-Territory-Presbytery/dp/135949362X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= 

Again many thanks for your support.
Yakoke! (yah-koh-ke) = Thanks! Thank you! (in Choctaw)

The Burris-Coleman-Butler Family "Our Footprints Are There"