American Aborigine Repair: Restoring Proper Classification Through Documentation

American Aborigine Repair: Restoring Proper Classification Through Documentation

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) has implemented a structured process for American Aborigine classification repair within its private institutional governance framework.

This repair is not based on ideology.

It is not based on preference.

It is not based on narrative.

It is based on documentation.

The verification and repair process does not cost anything.

However, verification does not automatically guarantee classification repair.

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Why Repair Is Necessary

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, government recordkeeping systems used shifting and inconsistent racial categories.

Individuals were recorded as:

• Colored

• Negro

• Mulatto

• Indian

Often, these classifications changed from one generation to the next.

Death certificates, in particular, frequently reflect later administrative labels that differ from earlier census or community records. Over time, these shifts created confusion in historical documentation and disrupted continuity in recordkeeping.

American Aborigine repair addresses documented misclassification — not assumptions.

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The Order of Repair

FRFT follows a strict order.

Repair does not come first.

Step 1: Confirm Freedmen Status

Before American Aborigine repair is considered, the documented line must confirm U.S. chattel slavery.

This confirmation is established through:

• Census documentation

• Vital records

• Archival genealogy

• Post-emancipation continuity

If slavery in the documented line cannot be confirmed, repair does not proceed.

Freedmen Status must be confirmed first.

There is no charge for this verification process.

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Important Clarification

Being recognized as a Verified Freedmen does not automatically result in American Aborigine repair.

Verification confirms documented status under U.S. chattel slavery.

Repair requires additional evidence of misclassification within the historical record.

Not every verified line contains classification distortion.

Repair is evidence-based — not assumed.

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Step 2: Review Historical Classification Patterns

After Freedmen Status is verified, FRFT conducts a structured review of historical records, including:

• Census category shifts

• Death records

• Enrollment documentation

• Federal, state, and county classifications

This review identifies whether the lineage was administratively reclassified over time in a way that disrupted documentary continuity.

Late 19th-century enrollment systems, including those implemented through the Dawes Commission, introduced bureaucratic distinctions such as “by blood” and “Freedmen,” which further altered record classifications.

These were administrative changes — not biological changes.

This review is conducted under Trust standards without charge.

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Step 3: Determine Misclassification

If documentation shows that a lineage was historically recorded in one category and later administratively reassigned into another without continuity in the underlying record, FRFT identifies this as misclassification.

Misclassification may include:

• Generational shifts in racial designation

• Record inconsistencies across census cycles

• Reassignment in death certificates

• Administrative absorption into broader categories

The goal is not to create a new identity.

The goal is to restore documentary continuity where evidence supports it.

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Step 4: American Aborigine Classification Repair

Only when both conditions are met —

1. Confirmed Freedmen Status

2. Documented evidence of misclassification

— does FRFT issue its internal:

Certificate of Classification – Verified Freedmen / American Aborigine

This certificate:

• Is issued under the jurisdiction of the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust

• Is based on archival genealogy and historical U.S. records

• Represents a private historical classification within the Trust

• Does not grant tribal citizenship, federal recognition, treaty rights, or enrollment in any federally recognized tribe

There is no charge for issuance when verification standards are satisfied.

Repair is granted only where documentation supports it.

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What American Aborigine Repair Means

American Aborigine repair is the documented correction of historical record distortion affecting Verified Freedmen whose lineage reflects earlier classification patterns that were later altered through administrative systems.

It does not replace tribal governance.

It does not assign federal Indian status.

It does not override sovereign governments.

It restores record continuity under private institutional governance.

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The Institutional Foundation

The process remains structured:

1. Confirm Freedmen Status.

2. Review classification history.

3. Identify misclassification.

4. Issue certificate of repair when evidence supports it.

Verification costs nothing.

Repair costs nothing.

Verification does not guarantee repair.

Repair requires documentation.

Order protects integrity.

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Start the verification process.