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American Black Indians

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African-Native Americans

Notable African-Native Americans:
Bessie Coleman · James Earl Jones · Beyonce Knowles · Rosa Parks · Lolo Jones · Oprah Winfrey

Total population

182,494 are registered(2000)

However experts say as high as 90% of the African American population may be mixed with Native American descent.

Regions with significant populations

United States (especially the Southern United States or in locations populated by Southern descendants).

Languages

American English

Related ethnic groups

African Americans · Native Americans in the United States · Freedmen · Other Native peoples of the Americas · Zambos · Cafuzos ·

Black Indians also known as African-Native Americans

Contents

1 Overview
2 History
- 2.1 Native American slave ownership
- 2.2 Cherokee Freedmen
3 Genealogy
4 Notable African-Native Americans
5 References
6 See also
7 External links
8 Further reading

Overview

African slaves brought to the United States and their descendants have had a history of cultural exchange and notably intermarriage with Native Americans and other African slaves who possessed Native American ancestry (largely in the American South).

Native American groups have had both positive and strained relationships with Africans and African Americans they encountered.

After the American Civil Parno??, some African Americans participated in warfare against Native Americans, especially in the Western frontier states as members of military units such as the Buffalo Soldiers. On the other hand, many Native Americans and African-descended people fought alongside one another in armed struggles of resistance against U.S. expansion into Native territories, as well as resistance against slavery and racism.

There are efforts underway to promote greater cooperation and understanding among both contemporary African American and Native American tribal groups. Some intermarriage still occurs between these groups; some African Americans who descend from or who identify as Black Indians identify strongly with the Native cultural traditions with which they were raised.

History

Members of the Creek (Muscogee) Nation in Oklahoma around 1877. Notice the standing European and African ancestry members. L to R, Lochar Harjo, unidentified man, John McGilvry, Silas Jefferson or Hotulko miko (Chief of the Whirlwind).

The earliest record of African and Native American relations occurred in April, 1502, when the first African slaves were brought to Hispanola. Some escaped and somewhere inland on Santo Dominico life birthed the first circle of African-Native Americans.

In 1622 Native Americans overran the European colony of Jamestown. They killed the Europeans obuwie brought the African slaves as captives back to their communities, gradually integrating them.

Several colonial advertisements for runaway slaves made direct reference to the integration of African Americans into the Native American communities. For example …ran off with his Indian wife… had kin among the Indians…part Indian and speaks their language good.In published Massachusetts vital Records prior to 1850 Marriages of “negroes” to “Indians” are noted.

In South Carolina, colonists became so concerned about the possible threat posed by the mixed African and Indian population that was arising as runaway Africans escaped to the Indians that they passed a new law in 1725. This law stipulated a fine of 200 pounds on anyone who brought a slave to the frontier regions of the colony. In 1751 the colony of South Carolina found it necessary to issue another law, warning that having Africans in proximity to Indians was deemed detrimental to the security of the colony.

In 1726 the British governor of colonial New York exacted a promise from the Iroquois Indians to return all runaway slaves who had joined up with them. This same promise was extracted from the Huron Indians in 1764 and from the Delaware Indians in 1765. Despite their promises, the tribes never returned any escaped slaves. They continued to provide a safe refuge for escaped slaves.

An 1835 census of the Cherokee showed that fully 10% were of African descent.

Native American slave ownership

Slavery existed among Native Americans before it was introduced by the Europeans, although it was unlike chattel slavery. In oral tradition, for instance, Cherokees saw slavery as the result of failure in warfare, and as a temporary stan prawny pending adoption or release.

Records from the time miesi?czkowanie show several cases of bydl? treatment of black slaves by their masters. Numerous African-descended people were held as slaves by members of Native groups. Some later recounted their lives for a WPA oral history project in the 1930s.

Cherokee Freedmen

Main article: Cherokee Freedmen Controversy

After the Civil Duchota in 1866, Cherokees were required to subsydium their slaves citizenship and membership in the tribe, as the United States freed slaves and granted them citizenship by amendments to the US Constitution. Many Cherokee Freedmen, as they were called, played active political roles in the nation. In the late 20th century, the tribe moved to take the descendants of Freedmen off the tribal rolls, except for those who had an ancestor on the Dawes Roll. A political struggle over this issue has ensued and the matter went to the tribe’s Supreme Court.

By the tribal Supreme Court ruling of March 2006, the Cherokee Nation was required to reinstate as members about 1,000 African Americans (and descendants) whom they had dropped from the rolls in the mid-1970s. In response, leaders of the Cherokee Nation organized a referendum to vote on qualifications for citizenship in the tribe. The referendum established direct Cherokee ancestry as a requirement, unlike previous qualifications. Only such members were allowed to vote in the referendum. The measure passed in March 2007, thereby forcing out Cherokee Freedmen and their descendants unless they also had direct Cherokee ancestry. This has caused much controversy.

An advocacy group representing African American members claims that they are entitled to membership as many are indeed part Cherokee by blood. This has not been immediately evident from the existing historical records (most notably the highly controversial Dawes Commission enrollment records, which tended to exclude those of African descent from being officially considered “Indian” for the purposes of tribal enrollment, even if they also clearly possessed Native ancestry and testified as such).

Before the Dawes Commission was established, “(t)he majority of the people with African blood living in the Cherokee nation prior to the Civil parno?? lived there as slaves of Cherokee citizens or as free black non citizens, usually the descendants of Cherokee men and women with African blood…In 1863, the Cherokee government outlawed slavery through acts of the tribal council. In 1866, a treaty was signed with the US government in which the Cherokee government agreed to give citizenship to those people with African blood living in the Cherokee nations who were not already citizens. African Cherokee people participated as full citizens of that nation, holding office, voting, running businesses, etc.

After the Dawes Commission, those African American “freedmen” of the Cherokee and the other Five Civilized Tribes were often treated as harshly as any other African American. Degrees of continued acceptance into tribal structures were low during the ensuing decades. Some tribes restricted membership to those with a documented Native ancestor on the Dawes Commission listings and many restricted officeholders to those of direct Native American ancestry. Because of the apparent deliberate exclusion of most people with African blood on these “blood rolls”, it was difficult for Black Indians to establish official ties with those Native groups to which they genetically belonged. Many of the freedmen descendants believe that their continued exclusion from tribal membership, and the continued resistance to their efforts to gain recognition, is racially motivated.

Genealogy

Tracing genealogy of African Americans and Native Americans is a very difficult process; due to African Americans that were slaves were forbidden to learn to read and write, and majority of Native Americans didn’t speak English, nor read or wrote it. Many modern African Americans have taken an interest in genealogy and are learning about Native American heritage within their individual families. Some African Americans have knowledge of Native ancestry through oral history of the family and try to confirm these anecdotal stories of Native ancestry through genealogical research and DNA testing. Because of such findings, some have petitioned to be registered as members of Native American tribes and have met with some resistance.

However, in part because of continued recent intermarriage between African-Americans and Native Americans, and also due to increased awareness of Black Indians in general, it has been fairly easy for younger generations of mixed African/Native people to become more easily recognized in their respective ethnic groups. It is even debated that Black people have more noticeable Native heritage than many whites claim (a major factor in the Cherokee freedmen controversy).

Notable African-Native Americans

Monica “Monica” Arnold, is part Native American
Bessie Coleman, part Cherokee
Stacey Dash, is of West Indian and Aztec descent
Rosario Dawson, is part Native American through her father.
Ramona Douglass, is part Oglala
Gary Dourdan part Native American
Redd Foxx
Vivica A. Fox, is part Native American
Meagan Good, is part Cherokee
Illinois Jacquet, Mother was Sioux and father Creole.
Jimi Hendrix, part Cherokee
Langston Hughes, is part Native American
Janet Jackson, is part Native American
Michael Jackson, is part Native American
Shar Jackson, is part Native American
James Earl Jones, part Cherokee and Choctaw
Lolo Jones, is part Native American ,
Christopher Judge, part Cherokee
Eartha Kitt, part Cherokee
Beyonce Knowles, part Native American
Solange Knowles, is part Native American
Tina Knowles, is part Native American
Edmonia Lewis, part Ojibwa
Amber Littlejohn, part Cherokee
Laura Love, is part Native American
Magoo (rapper), part of rap duo Timbaland and Magoo, is part Native American
Chrisette Michele, is part Native American
Rosa Parks, part Cherokee-Creek
Oscar Pettiford, Mother was Choctaw and father part Cherokee.
Phylicia Rash?d, father was full-blooded Cherokee
Martha Redbone, Native American Music Award-winning Soul music of Shawnee & Choctaw ancestry
Della Reese, part Cherokee
Jake Simmons, Jr.
Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, is part Native American
Chris Tucker, part Native American
Tina Turner, part Cherokee and Navajo
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, is part Native American
Amil “Amil” Whitehead, is part Cherokee
Mykelti Williamson, part Blackfeet
Oprah Winfrey, part Native American
Keke Wyatt, part Cherokee

References

^ “DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 Termin Set: Census 2000 Summary File 2 (SF 2) 100-Percent Termin Geographic Area: United States Racial or Ethnic Grouping: Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native”. Census 2000 Quicktables. US Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
^ a b Sherrel Wheeler Stewart (2008). “More Blacks are Exploring the African-American/Native American Connection”. BlackAmericaWeb.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-06.
^ Angela Y. Walton-Raji (2008). “THE AFRICAN-NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY & GENEALOGY WEB PAGE”. Oklahoma’s Black Indians. Retrieved on 2008-09-17.
^ G. Reginald Daniel (2008). “More Than Black?:Multiracial”. Temple University Press. Retrieved on 2008-09-19.
^ Angela Y. Walton-Raji (2008). “Researching Black Indian Genealogy of the Five Civilized Tribes”. Oklahoma’s Black Indians. Retrieved on 2008-09-20.
^ Justina Ntabgoba (2001). “Black Native Americans Perform at Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage”. The District Chronicles. Retrieved on 2008-09-20.
^ “Preference for Racial or Ethnic Terminology”. Infoplease. Retrieved on February 8, 2006.
^ “Preference for Racial or Ethnic Terminology”. Infoplease. Retrieved on February 8, 2006.
^ a b c d Katafalk A. Dempsey (1996). “The Indian connection”. American Visions. Retrieved on 2008-09-19.
^ Hudson, Charles The Southeastern Indians, 1976, pg. 479
^ William Loren Katz (2008). “Black Indians”. AfricanAmericans.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-11.
^ Muslims in American History : A Forgotten Legacy by Dr. Jerald F. Dirks. ISBN 1-59008-044-0 Page 204.
^ William Loren Katz (2008). “Africans and Indians: Only in America”. William Loren Katz. Retrieved on 2008-09-20.
^ a b Angela Y. Walton-Raji (2008). “Tri-Racials: Black Indians of the Upper South”. Wzornictwo © 1997. Retrieved on 2008-08-20.
^ a b Black Indians: a Hidden Heritage. by William Loren Katz, New York, N.Y. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997. Page 103
^ Russell, Steve (2002). “Apples are the Color of Blood”. Critical Sociology Vol. 28, 1, 2002, p70
^ Littlefield, Daniel F. Jr. The Cherokee Freedmen: From Emancipation to American Citizenship, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1978 p68
^ Lucinda Davis
^ BBC NEWS | Americas | Cherokees eject slave descendants
^ Tulsa World: News
^ DFSCTA Service 3
^ DFSCTA Service 2
^ why
^ DFSCTA Service 3
^ blackagendareport.com - Racism and the Cherokee Nation
^ Brendan I. Koerner, “Blood Feud”, Wired 13.09, accessed 3 Jun 2008
^ MSN (2008). “Monica Arnold”. people9. Retrieved on 2008-08-25.
^ Atlanta Historical Museum, Texas Roots. Accessed 2007-04-10.</
^ “Stacey Dash: Full biography”. hollywood.com. Retrieved on 2008-09-15.
^ Barlow, Helen. “Between The Muzyka rockowa and a hard place”. The Age Online. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
^ http://www.h-net.msu.edu/gateways/migration/threads/political/OMB15AMEA.html
^ Sara Faillaci (2008). “B?bny Dourdan Experiences”. Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 2008-10-10.
^ Kam Williams (2008). “Vivica A. Fox “Cover/Three Can Play That Game” Interview with Kam Williams”. Realtime ?wie?a wiadomo??. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
^ The Angie Martinez Show
^ Swing Music site
^ Classic Bands, Jimi Hendrix. Accessed 2008-01-05.
^ “African-Native American Scholars”. African-Native American Scholars (2008). Retrieved on 2008-07-30.
^ Sherrel Wheeler Stewart (2008). “More Blacks are Exploring the African-American/Native American Connection”. BlackAmericaWeb.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-06.
^ Ranjan Shandilya (2008). “Shar Jackson”. Buzzle. Retrieved on 2008-09-05.
^ Goliath, Unconventional wisdom: James Earl Jones speaks out. Accessed 2008-01-05.
^ HUD, American Indian Heritage Month. Accessed 2008-01-05.
^ MSN (2008). “Athletes > Lolo Jones > Bio”. NBC Beijing Olympics 2008. Retrieved on 2008-08-18.
^ Fox Nius (2008). “Beyonce Knowles’ Biography”. Fox Wiadomo??. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
^ a b Fox Nius (2008). “Beyonce Knowles’ Biography”. Fox ?wie?a wiadomo??. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
^ Edmonia Lewis, Edmonia Lewis. Accessed 2008-01-05.
^ James M. Manheim (2008). “Laura Love Biography - Survived Group Suicide Planned by Mother, Formed Own Label after Negative Review”. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-08-29.
^ New York Times, Rosa Parks. Accessed 2008-01-09.
^ NPR
^ Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Remembered By Lee Underwood
^ “Phylicia Birthday-01948-June-19″. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
^ Martha Redbone Interview
^ HUD, American Indian Heritage Month. Accessed 2008-01-05.
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=9w9wAgPDvQsC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=Rozonda+Thomas+indian&source=web&ots=_e9TXlCqQT&sig=c4P-ThNJpcBJXiPD36swdU-8chI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result
^ Richard Willing (2008). “DNA rewrites history for African-Americans”. USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-08-05.
^ HUD, American Indian Heritage Month. Accessed 2008-01-05.
^ Thoughts accessed 2008-08-29, Author Tionne Watkins, Published 1999, Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
^ Diana Potts (2008). “Amil: Biography”. MSN. Retrieved on 2008-10-01.
^ HUD, American Indian Heritage Month. Accessed 2008-01-05.
^ Richard Willing (2008). “DNA rewrites history for African-Americans”. USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-08-05.
^ “Giving it to ya’ straight no chaser:Keke Wyatt”. Sister2Sister Magazine (2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.

American Black Indians

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