Alva Review-Courier -

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Descendants of black slaves, known as freedmen, who once were owned by members of the Cherokee Nation have a right to tribal citizenship under a ruling handed down by a federal court in Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan ruled Wednesday in a long-standing dispute between the Cherokee Freedmen and the second-largest tribe in the United States which claims more than 317,000 citizens.

"The Cherokee Nation can continue to define itself as it sees fit," Hogan wrote in the ruling, "but must do so equally and evenhandedly with respect to native Cherokees and the de...