Unifying Our Declarations: Expanding Cultural Governance to American Aborigine Identity

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) has taken another historic step forward. Alongside our foundational declarations—such as the Declaration on Fiduciary Remedies for Historical Fraud and the Declaration on Persistent Harms & Ongoing Fiduciary Breaches—we now issue the Declaration of Cultural Governance Over American Aborigine Identity.

This new declaration strengthens our legal authority, expands our cultural protections, and provides a clear response to the months of inquiries we have received from families about reclassification and systemic mislabeling.

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Building on Existing Authority

The Trust’s earlier declarations established two critical truths:

• Historical Fraud Exists: Families of Freedmen were deliberately stripped of names, land, and protections.

• Harms Continue: Misclassification and breach of fiduciary duty are not relics of the past—they remain active, ongoing harms that demand remedy today.

With these declarations in place, the Trust already demonstrated its authority to hold institutions accountable for both past and persistent breaches.

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Why a New Declaration Was Needed

The new Declaration of Cultural Governance Over American Aborigine Identity answers a question families have brought to us in recent months:

• What about ancestors who appear in early records as Indian or Aborigine but later as colored or negro?

• What about those whose Indigenous ties were deliberately erased from official documents?

By issuing this declaration, the Trust makes clear:

• Freedmen remain the core status tied to reparations.

• American Aborigine identity can be recognized as a supplemental status where lineages intersect slavery, displacement, or treaty obligations.

• Reclassification does not erase status. Families impacted by deliberate record changes will not be excluded.

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Expanding Legal Reach

This Declaration is not symbolic—it expands the Trust’s jurisdictional standing:

• Treaty Rights: Where Freedmen and American Aborigine identities intersect, the Trust can now assert treaty-based claims for land, resources, and rights.

• Cultural Enforcement: Naming rights, symbols, and identity frameworks associated with “American Aborigine” are placed under the Trust’s protection, enforceable under the Lanham Act, DMCA, and other statutes.

• Unified Advocacy: Instead of dividing Freedmen from American Aborigine claims, the Trust now governs both within one structure, eliminating the fragmentation others exploit.

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Continuity, Not Division

This new declaration does not replace our existing declarations—it complements them.

• Where Historical Fraud proved past theft,

• And Persistent Harms showed breaches that continue today,

• The Cultural Governance Declaration ensures that all affected statuses are recognized and protected under the same fiduciary authority.

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Looking Ahead

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust now governs with broader authority than ever before. We protect the Freedmen identity at the heart of reparations, while also recognizing American Aborigine status where it intersects with slavery’s legacy.

This unified framework ensures:

• No family is erased by reclassification.

• No identity can be misused by outsiders.

• No government or institution can deny the Trust’s jurisdictional authority.

The road to reparations, land recovery, and cultural preservation requires both clarity and strength. With this new Declaration, the Trust reaffirms its role as the sole authority protecting the names, statuses, and rights of our people.

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Read the New Declaration: Click Here!