Editing Five Civilized Tribes

The '''Five Civilized Tribes''' is the term applied to five [[Native Americans_in_the_United_States|Native American]] nations, the [[Cherokee]], [[Chickasaw]], [[Choctaw]], [[Creek people|Creek]], and [[Seminole]], considered "civilized" by white society because they had adopted many of the colonists' customs (including the ownership of [[plantation]]s and [[slavery|slaves]]) and had generally good relations with their neighbors. The Five Civilized Tribes lived in the [[Southeastern United States]] before their removal to other parts of the country, especially the future [[Oklahoma]]. 
[[Image:okterritory.png|right|300px|Oklahoma and Indian Territory, 1890s]]
Today, many Native Americans, especially those from other nations, find the "Five Civilized Tribes" label patronizing or racist. When the tribes are discussed together, sometimes the modified label "Five Tribes" is used to avoid the suggestion that all other indigenous peoples were savages.

The tribes were uprooted from their homes east of the [[Mississippi River]] in a [[Indian removal|series of removals]], authorized by federal legislation, over several decades and moved to what was then called [[Indian Territory]] and is now the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma. The most infamous removal was the [[Trail of Tears]] of [[1838]], in which President [[Martin Van Buren]] enforced the highly contentious [[Treaty of New Echota]] with the [[Cherokee Nation]] to exchange their property for land out west. 

The Five Tribes were divided during the [[American Civil War]] as to which side to support. The Choctaw and Chickasaw fought predominantly on the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] side, while the Creek, Seminole and especially the Cherokee were split between the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and the Confederacy. The Cherokee fought a civil war within their own nation between those who supported the opposing sides.

Once the tribes had been relocated to Indian Territory, the United States government promised that their lands would be free of white settlement. Of course, some settlers violated the agreement with impunity even before [[1893]], when the government opened up the "[[Cherokee Outlet|Cherokee Strip]]" to outside settlement by the Oklahoma [[Land Run]]. In [[1907]], the territories of [[Oklahoma Territory|Oklahoma]] and Indian Territory were merged into the new state of Oklahoma; all Five Civilized Tribes have a major presence there today.

==See also==
* [[The Five Civilized Tribes Museum]], in [[Muskogee, Oklahoma]]

==External links==
* [http://www.fivetribes.org/ Five Civilized Tribes Museum official site]
* [http://www.nativeamericans.com/FiveCivilizedTribes.htm Five Tribes article at nativeamericans.com]
* [http://www.freedmen5tribes.com/ Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association]

{{Five Civilized Tribes}}

[[Category:Cherokee tribe]]
[[Category:Chickasaw tribe]]
[[Category:Choctaw]]
[[Category:Muscogee people]]
[[Category:Native American history]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Seminole tribe]]

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[[pl:Pięć Cywilizowanych Narodów]]
[[pt:Cinco tribos civilizadas]]
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