Holmes Colbert
(Chickasaw) was a leader of the Chickasaw
Nation in what would become Oklahoma. Of mixed
European and Chickasaw ancestry, Colbert was
born to his mother's Chickasaw clan and gained
status through them, as the tribe was matrilineal.
Educated in
an American school, he also learned of
European-American culture and contributed to
his tribe. He helped write
the Chickasaw Nation's constitution in the
1850s after its removal to Indian Territory
and reorganization of its government.
Colbert
served as the tribe's delegate to Washington,
DC after the American Civil War.
Holmes Colbert
was of mixed race,
the son of Benjamin Franklin
"Frank" Colbert, of mixed race, and a
Chickasaw mother. He was a descendant of James
Logan Colbert, a Scouts trader from North
Carolina who settled in Chickasaw country in
the mid-18th century, and his third wife, who
had a Chickasaw mother and belonged to her
clan. They had six sons. Other sources say the
Colberts had five sons. Because the Chickasaw
have a matrilineal
system, children are considered born into
their mother's clan and they gain status in
the tribe through her people, including any
hereditary leadership positions. The status of
their mothers, combined with their father's
access to trade goods, led to the Colbert men
becoming prominent landowners
and leaders in the Chickasaw nation.
Colbert married
Betsy Love, who was also of mixed race. They
were both well educated, having been sent to
schools out of state. Their mothers' clans
were influential families in the Chickasaw
Nation who were grooming their children for
the future. They had three children together,
but two died before the American Civil War.
The Colbert
sons were William, George, Levi, Samuel,
Joseph, and Pittman (or James). For nearly a
century, the Colbert
men and their descendants provided critical
leadership during the Chickasaw tribe's
greatest challenges.
The
Chickasaw allied with the United States during
the War of 1812. William Colbert served with
General Andrew Jackson against the Red Sticks
during the Creek
Wars of 1813-14, which became part of
that conflict. His brothers George and Levi
also served. The brothers were prominent
landowners and a political force within their
clan and the Chickasaw Nation. George and Levi
Colbert were negotiators and interpreters
during the tribe's negotiations with the US
government related to Indian Removal.
Third-generation
Colberts, such as Holmes
and Winchester, created the governmental
foundation of the Chickasaw Nation in Indian
Territory (now known as Oklahoma). In the
1850s, Holmes
Colbert helped write the constitution
for their government.
Colbert and his
wife owned about 100 acres (0.40 km) of
cleared land, with more in timber, and held
numerous adult enslaved African Americans
and several children in what is now Oklahoma.
After the
American Civil War, the US required a new
treaty from the Chickasaw, who had supported
the Confederacy. One of the provisions
required them to emancipate their slaves, as
the US had done, and offer those who wanted to
stay in Indian Territory citizenship as
Chickasaw. They became known as the Chickasaw Freedmen and
were considered members of the nation, with
voting rights.
