Declaration on Fiduciary Remedies for Historical Fraud

Fraud is not erased by time. Where fraud is committed, particularly against entire peoples, the obligation to remedy it survives across generations. This principle lies at the center of the Declaration on Fiduciary Remedies for Historical Fraud. It is a framework that recognizes the enduring duty of fiduciaries—institutions, governments, and those who held authority in trust—to correct the injuries caused by systemic deception, reclassification, and denial of rightful inheritance.

Historical Fraud as a Fiduciary Breach

Throughout history, populations identified as Freedmen—descendants of persons emancipated from American slavery—were deliberately misclassified. Through census records, treaty reinterpretations, and the erasure of Indigenous and Freedmen designations, a fraudulent substitution occurred. By labeling whole groups as “Negro,” “Colored,” or “Black” in place of their rightful classifications, governments and administrators stripped away treaty rights, land inheritances, and cultural governance.

Fraud of this scale is not a mere clerical error—it is a breach of fiduciary duty. The federal government, state agencies, and successor institutions acted as trustees over land, treaties, and financial instruments such as the Freedman’s Savings Bank. In misclassifying and dispossessing the very people they were obligated to serve, they violated the highest standard of duty recognized in law.

The Principle of Continuity

Fraud carries no statute of limitations when its effects are ongoing. The doctrine of continuity recognizes that when populations remain displaced, mislabeled, or denied access to their inheritance, the fraud is actively perpetuated. Each time census records omit the proper classification, or when legal categories deny Freedmen their proper standing, the breach is renewed.

The Declaration on Fiduciary Remedies for Historical Fraud insists that continuity of harm creates continuity of obligation. No successor government or institution may claim ignorance, as the paper trail—from treaties to FOIA-confirmed federal acknowledgments—remains intact.

Remedies Within a Fiduciary Framework

The remedies for historical fraud must align with fiduciary principles:

1. Restitution of Identity

   
   

   – Recognition of Freedmen as the rightful Indigenous population misclassified by fraud.

   
   

   – Correction of public records, census categories, and legal frameworks to restore rightful status.

   
   

2. Restoration of Assets

   
   

   – Return or replacement of land, funds, and institutional assets diverted through fraudulent classification.

   
   

   – Reclamation of cultural governance structures unlawfully stripped from Freedmen communities.

   
   

3. Accounting and Transparency

   
   

   – A full accounting of misappropriated assets, including real property, trust funds, and public resources.

   
   

   – Ongoing fiduciary reporting obligations to Freedmen-led governance bodies.

   
   

4. Non-Interference Guarantees

   
   

   – Recognition of the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust and related fiduciary institutions as the proper trustees.

   
   

   – Prohibition against outside entities assuming representation or stewardship of Freedmen identity without consent.

Fiduciary Authority by Operation of Law

The Trust asserts that fiduciary authority to remedy historical fraud does not require government approval. Under trust law principles, fiduciary duties arise from the relationship itself—not from external validation. The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust stands in continuity with the original fiduciary obligations imposed upon governments, banks, and treaty administrators. Its authority derives from law, from declaration, and from the unbroken status of Freedmen as a misclassified and defrauded people.

Conclusion: Fraud Cannot Stand

The Declaration on Fiduciary Remedies for Historical Fraud is not only a moral demand; it is a legal inevitability. Fraud, once proven, vitiates everything built upon it. To continue denying remedies is to perpetuate the breach. Fiduciary law requires that those wronged are restored to their rightful standing.

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust issues this declaration as both a corrective and a call to action: to realign fiduciary obligations with justice, to restore what fraud unlawfully took, and to ensure that the Freedmen inheritance cannot be erased by substitution, delay, or denial.

---

Read the Declaration on Fiduciary Remedies for Historical Fraud Here!