Hello All:
Here we go again - we either get those "there's Indian in my family" posts, or "Indians had slaves" posts - depending on whose agenda it is and what time of day it is. There is a plethora of information on both sides. From Henry Louis Gates who tries to deny any relationship between Blacks and Indians as a myth; to those who now say that Blacks are the original aboriginal Indians who inhabited the US, and so on. I have always maintained that there was and still exists and will always exist a spiritual, mental and physical synchronicity between African and Indian people - no matter what whites and deluded Blacks do to try to deny it or wipe it out. From the moment we were dragged to this continent in chains our Indian brothers and sisters have played a major, historical and spiritual role in helping us escape.
Anyway, I just received a link from my Lincoln Lion classmate, brother Joe Reed, and thought I'd chime in on some things that I learned as a kid growing up in the one place that was "allocated" to Indians after whites came in and stole everything else - Oklahoma (which means land of the Red man). We keep a lively conversation online about Black people and brothers of the feather - Indians - and historical, cultural, and political issues that concern us, mutually and individually as a people:
Hi Joe:
I
watched the video with interest - there are elements of truth in it -
and some serious omissions - I am so glad we grew up studying our
collective histories as African Americans and members of the FIVE
CIVILIZED TRIBES - and it's the reason why Carter G Woodson said don't
let anyone else tell your story. These videos are interesting, but remember, they all have a
slant - if they can show that others were as heinous as whites they
will do so == so be careful of how it's set up - and for those of you
who aren't aware of it, BUFFALO SOLDIERS aren't heroes - they were used
by whites to wipe out Indians and push them off their lands so they
could take over.
So the
part about Cherokee and the other FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES HAVING "SLAVES"
IS PARTIALLY TRUE. When whites invaded America, and Indians tried to
get them out, they finally realized that the whites weren't going anywhere. They also
realized that the more they tried to fight them, the more
reinforcements they would be sending. So John Ross, who considered
himself a well educated member of the Cherokee nation decided that the
best course of action was to try to adapt to the new ways of the
interlopers.
Whites wanted their land for cultivation of tobacco and
cotton. What Ross tried to do was negotiate a way that they could be
neighbors - so he started working to learn their ways and methods. Whites
insisted that if they were going to adapt to the new ways, they had to
have slaves in order to increase productivity - since a great deal of
the cotton was shipped to England who was still their number one trading
partner. Most Indians weren't into mass production. They tried to
utilize the new ways of slavery. The problem was they never adapted to
the methodology of keeping slaves in chains or whipping them, and other
methods of cruelty the way their white counterparts did. Generally,
since they tended to work side by side, the relationship ended up in
marriages - which pissed the crackers off.
It
wasn't like whites weren't routinely raping and cross breeding Black
slaves - they just weren't marrying them. And they certainly weren't
trying to treat them as equals.
John
Ross, on the other hand went in fully pledged to learn the white mans
ways and actually married a white woman, daughter of one of the
plantation owners. So he was constantly admonishing his people against
consorting with Black people. Regardless of how much they tried to
adapt, whites were continuing to encroach on their lands. So the
Cherokees, who considered themselves to be the better educated, because
they had their own schools and own written language (founded by Brother
Sequoiah), sued the US Government - and won the case in the subprime
court. Theoretically it was supposed to stop them from any further
incursions on their lands.
But Andrew "racist bum" Jackson ignored the
law and got his troups together to begin the removal of Indians from all
tribal lands from Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina -
etc. - to a land that was deemed to be a vast useless wasteland in the
southwest - OKLAHOMA. Indians were to be exiled there - whites were
forbidden to go there; not that they wanted to. It was thought to be so
rough, poor and barren that survival was close to impossible. In other words,
they thought they were sending the Indians and the ersatz slaves to
certain death. And being the true rednecks that they were, they didn't wait until the beginning of the spring
when weather conditions were amenable to travel, but waited until the
dead of the harshest winter in the history thus far; put them on
uncovered wagons, or forced them to walk, gave them rotten meat infested with maggots, smallpox
blankets that had been own by soldiers who had died from the epidemic -
the blankets were originally supposed to be burned to prevent further contamination
- instead they gave them to the Indians - because according to these racists "the only good Indian was a dead Indian." They really didn't care if they even reached Oklahoma, and would have been just as happy if they had all perished on their way.
Of
the so-called slaves that went along, many were family members who had
already intermarried with the indians and had children. The rest were
sent because the whites in the south didn't want them to interact with
other slaves - they were concerned that these slaves would start telling
others about the liberties and freedom of movement they experienced
with the Indians. Ifor anyone who think there wasn't this
marriage/love/relationship between Black slaves and Indians, remember
the legend of the Seminole chief whose wife was kidnapped by slavers -
he tore the hell up out of Florida to get her back. It was another
reason whites didn't want the Indian brand of slavery to exist side by
side with their heinously cruel treatment of Black people. Not to
mention that the fact that white man's (in)justice against Indians was
as cruel.
The
white soldiers who were supposed to guide them to the land of Oklahoma
got them to the border and abandoned them - there was nearly 10 to 20 feet in
snowdrifts. This was 1835-38. While there certainly were some Indians who
continued the practice of slavery - for the most part the 5 civilized
Tribes and Black people managed to live and to grow together side by
side. Blacks had their own farms, churches, schools, and businesses.
During the Civil war, there were those Indians who continued the
practice of slavery who pledged to support the South - they were located
more toward the Oklahoma/Texas Border in the southern part of
Oklahoma. In the meantime, over the past 50 years prior to the Civil
War, slaves had been incrementally sneaking across the borders of Texas
and Missouri into Oklahoma Territory to escape because slavery was
illegal for the most part, and Oklahoma had been transformed into a virtual paradise. And, until 1889, while it was illegal
for whites to go into Oklahoma Territory, it stayed that way.
Those
Indian fools who signed up with the Confederates found themselves in
trouble with Blacks and Indians in general, because Oklahoma was either
neutral or sided with the Union. (we used to call them Uncle Tom-Toms) Since we were only a territory then,
and not a state/member of the Union - there was no obligation whatsoever to participate in the war - so we
didn't. The other reason they signed with the south was they were
guaranteed by the white confederates soldiers that there would no longer be raids into Indian territory if they won, and there would be no more
massacres against Indian families - of course they had forgotten the
fact that, no matter what, white man speaks with forked tongue.
My
Great Great Great grandparents were Cherokee on my mon's side of the
Hornbeak Clan; and Creek and Crowe
on my Dad's side. We were not only in Tallequah but, Okmulgee,
Anadarko, and all over the Territory. Black people had 37 All Black
towns by the time
the Civil War started, and 67 by the time of the Oklahoma Land Grab - also called the Oklahoma Ruin - of 1889. We still have 13 All Black Towns
in Oklahoma.
But the big issue of Cherokee and Black intermixing came
to a head during the 20th century when a chief name Chad, who had a
white redneck racist mom, decided that he was going to kick Black people out of
the Cherokee nation - and they came up with antiquated Dawes register
to try to say who was and who wasn't Black Indian. Then they tried to
lowball the number of Black Cherokee in Oklahoma to some ridiculous
number of 2500 - when the number was more like 60,000 -
anyway............. Congresswoman Diane Watson, who was originally from
Oklahoma, and is Choctaw and Black, got into the mix and made sure they
weren't able to succeed in the divide and conquer efforts. She cut their federal funds.
I met sister
Marilyn Vann at one of the hearings - this issue was being fanned into a
major effort because they were trying to figure out ways to make amends
with Indians without giving Blacks their reparation rights. And then many of my friends and relatives came to DC to the Congressional Black Caucus to enlist their aid in making sure this did not go forth.
Just wanted
to give you some perspective on Black and Indian relations in Oklahoma
vis a vis so called slavery. We worked together, we thrived, we
survived, we prospered and we still get along and are still family - if
you don't count Chad - and as long as whites don't get in the mix, it seems to work beautifully.
BTW:
I added some additional videos historical videos below that I've watched over the years. They're very informative and insightful.
So Now you know
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria
FROM INDIGENOUS AMERICANS TO AFRICAN AMERICANS 1
FROM INDIGENOUS AMERICANS TO AFRICAN AMERICANS 6
INDIAN SLAVERY - AN UNSPOKEN HISTORY
AMERICA'S GREAT INDIAN NATIONS
CHEROKEE FREEDMEN
BLACK CHEROKEES
HARVEST OF SHAME
WHITE TRASH
INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL
Autoplay
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Part 8
ROLAND MARTIN AND UMAR JOHNSON
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