Black Indians A-Z

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
 
 

How Black Seminoles Found Freedom from Slavery in Florida

Seminole Indians in traditional dress.

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.
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Native American slavery

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

Native American groups often enslaved war captives whom they primarily used for small-scale labor. Others however, were used in ritual sacrifice, usually involving torture as part of religious rites, and these sometimes involved ritual cannibalism.
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Seminole Nation of Florida had one of the most amazing alliances with freed African slaves

The Seminole Nation of Florida had one of the most amazing if not one of the most important alliances with freed African slaves. Many Native American Nations formed partnerships and deep relationships with African slaves. Both groups fought for freedom and the right to exist in peace, away from the colonizing forces trying to stomp them out.
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Burial customs practiced by Creek Freedmen

The Creek sho take on when somebody die! Long in de night you wake up and hear a gun go off, way yonder somewhar. Den it go again and again, jest as fast as they can ram de load in. Dat mean somebody die. When somebody die, de men go out in de yard and let people know dat way. Den dey jest go back in de house and let de fire go out and don't even tech de dead person till somebody get dar who has a right to touch de dead.
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Black Creeks adopted through the Dawes Commission between 1898 and 1916

Note that many of these names appear in other Indian nation lists, and their appearance here does not provide proof of Black Indian Ancestry.

In addition to these items, it is recommended that the researcher obtain as much oral history as possible on the family, and then locate the Dawes records on the family, including the names of ancestors on the Enrollment Cards and other pertinent records.
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Black Chickasaws adopted through the Dawes Commission between 1898 and 1916

Note that many of these names appear in other Indian nation lists, and their appearance here iss not absolute provide proof of Black Indian Ancestry. In addition to these items, it is recommended that the researcher obtain as much oral history as possible on the family, and then locate the Dawes records on the family, including the names of ancestors on the Enrollment Cards and other pertinent records.
Continue to Black Chickasaws adopted through the Dawes Commission between 1898 and 1916

Black Cherokee Surnames recorded on the Dawes roll

This list of surnames represent the names of the Black freedmen who were adopted through the Dawes Commission, between 1898 and 1916. Note that many of these names appear in other Indian nation lists, and their inclusion here does not provide absolute proof of Black Indian Ancestry. 

In addition to these items, it is recommended that the researcher obtain as much oral history as possible on the family, and then locate the Dawes records on the family, including the names of ancestors on the Enrollment Cards and other pertinent records.
Continue to Black Cherokee Surnames recorded on the Dawes roll

The Freedmen: James Coody Johnson

A significant number of Afro-Americans were sold, escaped or fled from slavery and eventually settled in the West, where they were adopted by Indian tribes and accepted into the tribal structure as equals. Many even assumed roles of leadership. Sugar T. George a.k.a. George Sugar was born in approximately 1827, as a slave in the Muskogee Nation. James Coody Johnson was one of the most influential modern era African Americans in Oklahoma history.
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The Freedmen:John Myers, Creek Lighthorseman

A significant number of Afro-Americans were sold, escaped or fled from slavery and eventually settled in the West, where they were adopted by Indian tribes and accepted into the tribal structure as equals. Many even assumed roles of leadership. Sugar T. George a.k.a. George Sugar was born in approximately 1827, as a slave in the Muskogee Nation. John Myers served as the personal interpreter to the Creek leader Isparhecher.
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The Freedmen:Sugar T. George a.k.a. George Sugar

A significant number of Afro-Americans were sold, escaped or fled from slavery and eventually settled in the West, where they were adopted by Indian tribes and accepted into the tribal structure as equals. Many even assumed roles of leadership. Sugar T. George a.k.a. George Sugar was born in approximately 1827, as a slave in the Muskogee Nation.
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The Freedmen: Harry Island was an official U.S. Interpreter for the Muskogee Cre

A significant number of Afro-Americans escaped or fled from slavery and eventually settled in the West, where they were adopted by Indian tribes and accepted into the tribal structure as equals. Many even assumed roles of leadership. Harry Island served as one of the official U.S. Interpreters with the Muskogee Creek Nation. He was present during many official hearings during the 1860s and 70s in the years following the Civil War.
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The Freedmen: Dosar Barkus was a leader in a Black Seminole community

A significant number of Afro-Americans escaped or fled from slavery and eventually settled in the West, where they were adopted by Indian tribes and accepted into the tribal structure as equals. Many even assumed roles of leadership. Dosar Barkus is one such individual who became a leader in a Black Seminole community.
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