Five Civilized Tribes

Term used by European settlers to describe the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole peoples of the southeast USA. They were considered ‘civilized’ because they farmed in settled towns, established a democratic form of government, and had adopted many European customs, including European dress. Some even grew cotton and became slave owners. The Cherokee also built roads, schools, and churches, and published a newspaper using their own alphabet. The Five Civilized Tribes were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory, beginning in 1838.

In 1893, in preparation for Oklahoma statehood, the Dawes Commission was set up to arrange the allotment of reservation lands to individual members of the Five Civilized Tribes and oversee the dissolution of their tribal governments. The names of those eligible for land were listed by ethnic group on the Final Rolls drawn up in 1906. Today, membership of a group is dependent on being descended from someone whose name appears on the Final Rolls.