red n black cutie

I was just wondering if anyone knew that some tribes , mostly in the South, had slaves? What kind of feelings does this stir up? If you have any info I'd love to hear it. Does anyone find it weird that ppl who had been oppressed and hunted for centuries would take part in the same sort of thing. Even though it seemed like Native masters were a thousand times better to have than white masters.

WulffPaws

i never heard anything about natives having slaves i do know that native tribes took in slaves run away's escaped slaves and brought them into the tribe. where did u hear as of natives having slaves i highly doubt that.

Blackbear

Among the tuscarora it was recorded that they had slaves occasionally but they were only kept for a period of time and then set free. Most indian slaves were not kept or treated as the white men's slaves. The tuscarora were kidnapped and sold as slaves as well by the whites which was the main reason for our wars.

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crazywolf

Boozhoo niji,

This is interesting, and I feel like its an important part of history. I hope to hear from more people, and here is my input, please keep it to heart that what I have to say is hearsay. I am not exactly sure where I heard it, could have been back in school, you know, the white mans version, or it may have been on the pow wow trail... here goes

I have heard the Cherokee in particular kept slaves. I dont think it was so much for reasons of convience, but more outta trying to blend in. I am referring to before the Trail of Tears, I know the Cherokee did own land, they bought it outright, had the deed, all legalized and everything. They may have owned the slaves more to be with the status quo.

Come to think of it now, I may have heard this from someone who is half Cherokee, half black. I have met a lot of people on the pow wow trail, and everyone has an interesting story to tell. I like to listen to these, and trouble is, I listen to so many, well its hard to remember them all. But seriously This one man I think he told me that his great great grandparents were slaves, that were owned by a Cherokee family, and later released. They were adopted and married into the tribe, if memory serves me right.

Anyway likeI said, its heresay, but there may be some truth behind it.

Derek

kgirl7

Hmm, I know the Cherokee had slaves, as well as Choctaw, Creek and others (the names escape me at the moment). It's not hearsay it is true and documented. Although I have heard that the slavery was nothing like the slavery endured at the hands of white masters. I wasn't there so i couldn't tell you about that hahaha. Anyway, just google "freedmen" or maybe "estelusti" will get you some information.

There are also some slave narratives that can be found here:
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/angelaw859/estelust.html

and info about freedmen here http://www.african-nativeamerican.com . Would be better if someone from those tribes could answer your question though.

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red n black cutie

No It's not heresay at all. I am majoring in Native studies and My advisor gave me a topic, it was Black Indians. He told me that I could create a course about it and he may teach it next year. This is true that many tribes took in runaways but some also own them. I am reading a very interesting book called Black Indian Slave Naratives. It is a book about slaves who were either full black and slaves to Natives and or some combination of red, black, and white, who were owned by whites. It does seem that Natives treated their slaves far better than whites did, because many said that they didn't want to leave when they were free. At the end of the Civil War Natives told their slaves right away that they were free, some slaves stayed on and some left, some married within the tribe. Something that we all no did not happen with the whites. Whites considered you black if you had 1/32 black blood. There were laws against interacial marriage, many think that it was between black and white but it also included Natives. That is a completely different story all together though.

WocusWoman

This is an interesting topic; I know my tribe had slaves in the Northwest, but of course those slaves were made up of other tribes. My best guess is that in the southern U.S., the probability of this being true, is very high. You need to keep in mind that all the tribes lived differing lifestyles and had various beliefs, and that there were dominant(strong) as well as very weak tribes.

Singing Otter

I think in Alabama the miscegenation law was overturned as recently November of 2000. I told this lady the same thing that Red n Black cutie just typed and do you know she got HOT. I mean this lil lady was LIVID. When I pointed her in the direction of documentation she came back all sheepish and apologized. I'll be back to write some later.... I'm still waking up. lol

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Emmy

also in the south, if u were native living off the rez and married some1 black had kids or whatever they counted u as black or mulatto, for tabulation records(census) for cities, no matter what ur birth records said, if u had any.

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fedf

I tecah American and African Americanb history and I am mixed Cherokee (Anglo Saxon-French-Black-Indian). Yes the topic is one that is quite complex. I would suggest before you start with the slave narratives that you get some background on Indian black slavery;
Theda Perdue, Slavery and the Evolution of Cherokee Society;
Willian Loren Katz, Black Indians;
Daniel Littlefield, Creeks and Blacks;
Are all excelllent sources of background. The fact that the 5 "Civilized Tribes" practiced racial slavery was related to the high degree of white bllod in those tribes, in fact almost all of the Cherokee slaveholders were from the elite mixed white leadership. The 5 Tribes made treaties with the confederacy and fought aganist black troops and white Union troops during the civil war. The irony is that they supported the same stste governments that evicted them from their lands, to defend slavery. Stand Watie's Cherokee Braves were responsible for the Cabin Creek Massacre of freed slaves and members of the US Colored Troops after the singing of the treaty at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865. Today groups of whites and mxied bloods white Indian racists even support flying the hated symbol of slavery and racism the confederate flag.
The 5 tribes ahave resisted the treaty imposed on them by the federal government requiring that their freed slaves be admitted to the tribes, and those cases are still in court.
Anyone who believes that Indian cannot be racists is an ostrich. If you examine the record, Indian people learned to be better whites than whites, better slave masters and more efficient producers using slave labor than their white neighbors in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Mississippi and thats was the main reason why they were driven from their lands. Who suffered, clearly those deprived of their liberty and those today who are still demanding what is rightfully there's inclusion in the 5 tribes.
Altho some mixed race Indians were allowed because of their genealogy to enroll, most have been denied soley because of their appearance. Some who actually do have significant blood have been denied and started claiming to be "black" Indians and have joined the various cults including the Binay and the Wa****aw Empire. These are not Indian tribes and have no historiacl legitimacy. Indian people should not be self righteous about racism, just because one is a victim doesn't mean that they cannot also be a victimizer.
I'm glad to see that other folks in this group are educated. Yesterday a poster took issue with my being articulate and I believe they said "educated". Perhaps if more of us were we would have less problems with igfnorznce being endemic here in the internet Indian Country.
Good luck and feel free to consult me off line, I'd be happy to assist you in your project...
rbwareone@yahoo.com

WhoMe

fedf,

'Siyo!

It "is" true that some members of the 5 Civilized tribes had slaves, plantations and mansions. But this was certainly NOT the norm. An overwhelming percentage lived in log cabins and were NON-slave owners.

4 of the 5 Civilized tribes actually fought for both the North and the South. So they were not ALL Confederates. Many Indians who fought for the Union, fought alongside black troops.



Cherokee General, Stand Watie, participated in the First and Second Battle of Cabin Creek in the Cherokee Nation before the surrender at Appomattox, in 1865 - Not after. Watie attacked freed slaves who "happened to be" part of the of the Union supply train with the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry during the First Cabin Creek Battle in 1863.

Watie did not diliberately attack blacks just because of their color. In the Civil war, tribesmen-fought-tribesmen, brother-fought-brother. The Confederates fought the Union army "regardless of skin color."

Perhaps you were referring to Flat Rock?





"Indian people learned to be better whites than whites, better slave masters and more efficient producers using slave labor than their white neighbors" .... was NOT "The main reason" they were driven from their lands.



Are you sure you're a history teacher?

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Blackbear

Tuscarora slaves were'nt black, they were other indians. Usually they were like indentured slaves paying back a debt owed is how I was told from gambling.

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Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.