Black Indians A-Z


Black Native Americans are people of African-American descent, with significant Native American ancestry, who also have strong ties to Native American culture, social, and historical traditions.

Certain Native American tribes had close relations with African Americans, especially those where slavery was prevalent.

Members of the Five Civilized Tribes held enslaved blacks, who migrated with them to the West in 1830 and later. In peace treaties with the US after the American Civil War, the tribes, which had sided with the Confederacy, were required to emancipate slaves and give them full citizenship rights in their nations.

The Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole have created controversy in recent decades as they tightened rules for membership in their nations and excluded Freedmen who did not have at least one Native American ancestor on the early 20th century Dawes Rolls.

Black Indians starting with C

Cherokee
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Creek

Black Indians starting with M

Melungeon

Black Indians starting with S

Seminole

Black Indians starting with W

Wampanoag

 

Article Index:

Black Indians of Wampanoag and African Heritage

Black Indians of Wampanoag and African heritage who take pride in their tribal heritage speak up about their struggle to be recognized as African Native Americans dealing with race, skintone, identity and acceptance as Black Indians.

“We Still Live Here – Âs Nutayuneân” by Anne Makepeace tells the story of how the Wampanoag are bringing their language and their culture back.

How Black Seminoles Found Freedom from Slavery in Florida

Black Seminoles were enslaved Africans and African Americans who, beginning in the late 17th century fled plantations in the southern American colonies and joined with the newly-formed Seminole tribe in Spanish-owned Florida.

From the late 1690s until Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, thousands of Native Americans and runaway slaves fled what is now the southeastern United States, heading not to the north, but rather to the relatively open promise of the Florida peninsula.

Native American slavery

Many Native American tribes practiced some form of native american slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America; but none exploited slave labor on a large scale.

Seminole Nation of Florida had one of the most amazing alliances with freed African slaves
The Freedmen: Cow Tom of the Creek Nation
The Freedmen: Harry Island was an official U.S. Interpreter for the Muskogee Creek
The Freedmen: James Coody Johnson
The Freedmen: Silas Jefferson
The Freedmen:John Myers, Creek Lighthorseman
The Freedmen:Sugar T. George a.k.a. George Sugar
Tribal court rules in favor of “Freedmen”