Oklahoma tribes split over tribal status of former slaves' descendants

WASHINGTON, D. C.-Oklahoma's five largest tribes split in late July on the terms of treaties signed more than 150 years ago regarding their treatment of descendants of their former slaves, and on what those treaties require.

The hearing before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee was the first to bring together federal officials, tribal representatives and descendants of the Freedmen, the former slaves of the five tribes who were offered varying levels of tribal rights after the Civil War, said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

"We will have a respectful dialogue, these issues are hard, we're talkin...