There are a wide variety of misconceptions in American history, and few communities have been subject to quite as many of these as Indigenous American people. One of the most widespread misconceptions is the discussion about who is considered Indigenous. While this data may be new, the tie between Indigenous and Black American people has deeply influenced the history of both communities since the first arrival of Europeans in the Americas.
The relevance of Native America to Black History can be seen in the shared kinship created from shared lived experiences with slavery and citizenship within sovereign Native American nations.
Historical estimates of the pre-Columbian 1492 population of what is now the United States vary dramatically, ranging from only 900,000 to upwards of 18 million, with the majority of estimates falling between 2 million and 5 million. However, it is universally agreed upon by historians that the Indigenous population underwent a large decline following European contact, primarily due to Old World diseases to which natives lacked immunity, as well as violent conflict and genocide committed by European settlers.
The transatlantic slave trade had its roots prior to the discovery of the Americas. By 1471, Portuguese navigators hoping to tap the fabled Saharan gold trade had reconnoitered the West African coast as far as the Niger Delta, and traded European commodities for local crafts as well as slaves, the latter which turned out to be highly lucrative. By 1490, more than 3,000 slaves a year were transported to Portugal and Spain from Africa.
Following the Spanish discovery of the New World in 1492, Spanish and Portuguese sailors began transporting enslaved Africans to their new colonies in the Caribbean, marking the start of the transatlantic slave trade. The first permanent British settlement in what would become the United States was established at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The first African slaves were imported to the colony of Jamestown around the year 1620, marking the beginning of the slave trade in what would become the United States.
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Whites (including Non-Hispanic Whites) have historically made up the overwhelming majority (usually between eighty and ninety percent) of the total United States population, with African-Americans making up the overwhelming majority of the non-white population for most of the nation's history. The United States historically had few Hispanics and Asians, especially before the late 20th century. Most Asian Americans historically lived in the Western United States.
The Hispanic and Asian populations of the United States have rapidly increased in the late 20th and 21st centuries, following the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which repealed racially motivated national origin quotas that had severely limited immigration from countries outside of Northwestern Europe. The rise of Asian and Hispanic populations, and declining immigration from Europe in the late 20th century, has seen a commensurate decline in the share of non-Hispanic Whites in the country, from over 83% of the population in 1970 to around 58% in 2020.
The Census Bureau has announced that for the upcoming 2030 Census, the 'race' and 'ethnicity' categories will be combined into one question, meaning that Hispanics will be classified in the same way as the already recognized racial categories, rather than as a separate ethnic classification as they were from 1970-2020. Additionally, the Census Bureau has also announced the introduction of a new "Middle Eastern or North African" racial category for the 2030 census.
In 1865, all enslaved Blacks (African Americans) in the United States were emancipated as a result of the Thirteenth Amendment. The census counted 248,000 Native Americans in 1890, 332,000 in 1930 and 334,000 in 1940, including those on and off reservations in the 48 states.
In 2019, 1.5% of the U.S. population was African American, and 0.9% of the population identified as having American Indigenous ethnicity. In 2020, 9.7 million of the U.S. population reported some combination of American Indian or Alaska Native. That is a difference of nearly 4 million Indigenous people that the Bureau had not accounted for the previous year.
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Here is a visualization of the population statistics:
Shared Experiences of Slavery
In shared slavery, enslaved Africans and enslaved Native Americans intermarried with one another. Because their marriages were usually not considered legitimate by law, their children were slaves like their parents and considered illegitimate. Among the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, et al., Africans were enslaved by Native Americans.
Slave holding was not exclusive to white colonizers. In fact, as a measure of assimilating to Western practices, several of the Indigenous communities of the American Southeast, such as Muskogees (native to Georgia and Alabama), Choctaws (native to Alabama and Mississippi), and Cherokees (native to the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee) also partook in the enslavement of Black American people, forcing them to pick cotton and other cash crops valuable to white Americans and Europeans.
Children of enslaved African women and Native American slave owners were also considered illegitimate.Native Americans, particularly those of blended African ancestry, occasionally found themselves kidnapped into slavery. Early colonists, like later citizens of the United States, enslaved Africans and Native people as maids, butlers, blacksmiths, field hands, etc., for the homes and plantations of English, French, and Spanish colonists. From these contacts, love and marriages frequently formed.
The practice of enslaving Black people by the “Civilized Tribes” (referring to the Cherokees, Seminoles, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Muskogee people Indigenous to the South East) created an entirely new perspective of Indigeneity among these tribes and nations. By the time the Civil War was over, enslaved people, who had lived in these communities for generations at that point, were rejected as members of the tribe, despite having labored for these communities their entire lives.
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Still, many Black and Indigenous people sought refuge together, eventually building their own community in places like the Everglades in Florida, where the Seminole tribe originated. While white colonists in Georgia and Florida displaced communities of Indigenous people such as the Muskogees, enslaved African men and women self-emancipated and fled to the swamps for freedom, the Seminole Tribe, as it is understood today, came into formation.
Seminoles - Native Americans Who Never Surrendered
The word Seminole is thought to be derived from either the Spanish cimarrónes (runaways), or derived from yat’siminoli, meaning the free people. With then-President Andrew Jackson’s policy of removal in 1830, the Seminoles fought the federal government until what is known today as the Seminole Wars, which lasted until 1858.
Legal and Social Implications of Indigeneity
The intermingling of African and Indigenous American descended people did not just show itself in political or tribal circumstances, this intersection manifested itself in legal circumstances as well. In the case of the DeReef brothers, who were the owners of a lumber mill and involved in real estate in the Charleston area, they were being taxed by the city of Charleston in the early 1800’s as free mulattoes.
While utilizing Indigenous ancestry had tangible benefits in the legal system, in late 19th and early 20th Century Charleston, it also saw more subtle influences as well. In an interview with Ruby Cornwell (who was born and raised in the height of Jim Crow era South Carolina) which discusses colorism among the Black community. Reflecting on her mother of Cherokee descent, she says “she would not have been a victim of that [colorist treatment] because, um, her mother was, was light. Her father, they were all looked like, I guess, like Cherokee Indians. They were more that type, you know. Not, a light rather than brown. A brownish.”
In the case of Cornwell’s mother, being of mixed and Indigenous ethnicity, she enjoyed a better treatment because she was not considered dark skinned in Charleston at a time when colorism in the Black community was prevalent. While the DeReef brothers had real tangible benefits in being of Indigenous descent through a white supremacist government, Cornwell’s mother experienced social benefits in an oppressed Black community.
Considering the experiences of the DeReef brothers and the Cornwell mother, there is an obvious question that arises: in two completely different circumstances, why does Indigenousness create privileges for multi-ethnic Black people? Looking at the Slave Codes of 1740, it describes a distinction between Indigenous people who are “in amity” with the government, and those who are not. As long ago as 1740 is even in consideration of Cornwell’s mother in the early 1900’s, laws like these show the ethos that has driven American policy with Indigenous people since before its foundation.
There is a desire to “civilize” Indigenous people, and for Indigenous people to want to do so peaceably. In contrast, Blackness has been treated across American history as in direct opposition to American citizenship. Studying the same document, Dr. Nick Butler of the Charleston County Public Library describes “The law did not recognize them [free black people] as fully-formed citizens, however. The mere facts of their skin color and non-European ancestry created legal “disabilities” that diminished their civil rights.” This is a philosophy that still carries to this day, especially in regard to drug policies, mass-Incarceration, and police killings of unarmed Black people.
In summation, the legal codes across American history believe Indigenous people can become citizens, but Black people cannot.
Cultural Pride and Activism
To move away from the legal and cultural implications of Indigeneity in Black life, Indigeneity for Black Americans has also been seen as a source of pride. Frank Albert Young was a sports editor, historian and lecturer from Chicago, nicknamed “Ghost Green Eyes” by some, but most prominently was recognized as a labor activist. Young was also the descendant of the Lenape people.
In addition to his work as an activist, he also spent much of his time researching Lenape history and culture, and even enrolled himself in the Lenni Lenape Historical Society. Even among African American people who are not known to be Indigenous, the Civil Rights Movement also saw a lot of support for the American Indian Movement by African American people. One of the most prominent examples includes the likes of American Indigenous people such as Martha Grass of the Ponca Nation (Indigenous to Nebraska but removed to Oklahoma) being involved in Dr. Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign.
Beyond national movements like the Poor People’s Campaign, local activist Cleveland Sellers from Denmark, South Carolina was cognizant of issues relating to Indigenous people.
Contemporary Issues
Indigeneity has a long and complex history in the United States, and its deep tie with African descended people is equally as complex. There are a wide variety of misconceptions in American history, and few communities have been subject to quite as many of these as Indigenous American people. One of the most widespread misconceptions is the discussion about who is considered Indigenous.
For example, the Cherokee Nation faced scrutiny for attempting to restrict the enrollment of Black members. That was backtracked this year, as the Cherokee Nation has since opened a path to tribal membership for people who are descendants of those enslaved by the Cherokee Nation.
Here is an image of tribal territories:
