The Five Tribes of Civilization is a term that has been used officially and unofficially since at least 1866 to refer to the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians of Oklahoma (former Indian Territory).
Beginning in 1874, they were handled as a single entity by the US Department of State's Bureau of Indian Affairs, but there has never been a unification or overall organization of the tribes under that name.
The word civilized is applied to the five tribes because, in general, they have developed extensive economic ties with white people or assimilated into the culture of American settlers. Some of these southeastern tribes have adopted European dress, spoken English, practiced Christianity, and even enslaved people.
In 1821 the Cherokee developed a written language, and in 1828 the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspaper, began to be published. The Cherokee also established a strong central government with a constitution based on the US constitution.
The Indian Abolition Act of 1830 was passed by Pres. Andrew Jackson accelerated the movement of Europeans west by relocating Indian tribes to the uninhabited lands west of the Mississippi River. While the act explicitly provided for land purchases from willing parties, the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole had little desire to leave their established communities to start over outside the borders.
When faced with forced displacement, the Cherokee used the American federal court system to advance their claim against the state of Georgia. Although the Supreme Court twice in favor of the Cherokee state, Georgia ignored the ruling, and Jackson is said to have stated privately, "[Chief Justice] John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it."
Opposed by the US government refusing to respect India's property rights or the decisions of its own courts, the so-called Five Civilized Tribes have little choice. The Seminoles waged a protracted and costly guerrilla war, but most of the tribes eventually emigrated westward.
The process of forced displacement became known as the Trail of Tears because of the unnecessary deaths and hardships that characterized it. The survivors were relocated to a large contiguous piece of land in the eastern part of India Territory. Here they retained a significant degree of autonomy over their internal affairs until 1907.
Each was organized as a "nation," with statutes and written laws and a republican government modeled on the US, consisting of an executive department (headed by a chairman) or elected principal governor), a bicameral legislature, and a judiciary with elected judges and tried by jury. A public school system was established, partly supported by tribal funds and partially provided by Christian church missionaries.
During the American Civil War, most of the tribes were divided between supporters of the Union and Confederates, providing soldiers for each army. Their Territory was emptied and destroyed. Before, and especially after the reorganization of each country after the war, economic and educational progress was rapid, and a distinctive blend of Indian and Anglo-American cultures developed.
When a transcontinental railroad was built through the Indian Territory, and the settlement of adjoining states increased, the Five Tribes of Civilization lost their independence. Between 1893 and 1907 (when Oklahoma became a state), the US government forced the distribution of tribal lands to individuals and registered tribal members (including freedmen and former slave Indians) and overturned the national government.
Former tribal lands were cleared for white settlement, and many Indians lost their lands to unscrupulous practices. The tribal government has continued in a modified form to the present day, but with far less sovereignty; all members of the tribe are full citizens of Oklahoma and the United States of America. The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides some services for registered tribal members, but no reservation system exists.