BLACK INDIANS

BLACK INDIANS By William Katz

Explores the little-told story of black Indians, defined here as people with dual African and American Indian ancestry or African Americans who lived primarily with American Indians.  Using biographies and detailed research, Katz creates a chronology of this hidden heritage during the settlement of the American West.  Though they have never appeared in a school text, Hollywood movie or a TV show of the Old West, Black Indians were there as sure as Sitting Bull, Davy Crockett and Geronimo. Their story began at the time of Columbus, ranged from North American forests to South American jungles, and the jewel-like islands of the Caribbean. The first freedom paths taken by runaway slaves led to Native American villages. There black men and women found a red hand of friendship and an accepting adoption system and culture. The sturdy offspring of Black-Indian marriages shaped the early days of the fur trade, added a new dimension to frontier diplomacy, and made a daring contribution to the fight for American liberty. Early Florida history was determined by a powerful African-Seminole alliance that fought the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines to a standstill for forty years. Like other intrepid frontier people, these dark Americans braved every peril for a slice of the American Dream-freedom, a safe home, family happiness and a piece of one's own land. In the chronicles of the Americas their long, arduous quest for freedom is still a neglected chapter. Through careful research and rare antique prints and photographs this book reveals how black and red people learned to live and work together in the Americas to oppose white oppression. Here is an American story that reveals a little-known aspect of our past and shatters some myths. 198 pp. Illus. Hard Cover $ 17.95

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