You’d think the U.S. Senate would have better things to do, but alas, in late July, its Indian Affairs Committee held a meeting to find out what the “Five Civilized Tribes”—Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole, relocated via the Trail of Tears from the Southeast to what is now Oklahoma in the 1830s—were doing for the black descendants of their slaves. Despite tribal membership policies, federal judges have ruled that treaty obligations require the tribes to admit blacks, even if they don’t have a drop of Indian blood.

The tribes disagree; four of the five are resisting. As always, the issue comes down to money. The blacks and their backers want to raid the tribal treasuries for health and other benefits.