Native Americans and Black Americans

by Kim Dramer

Describes the history of relations between African Americans and Native Americans, and describes how the civil rights movement inspired American Indians

95 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the books in the Young Adult series titled "Indians of North America." I thought the topic was fascinating as it's one of the overlooked aspects of American history--the relations between Native Americans and African Americans. Both groups were exploited in colonial times and used as slaves by European colonists. The members of neither group were considered as citizens of the new United States.
Native people and Black people often found themselves in adversarial positions to the other as perhaps best shown in the story of the "Buffalo Soldiers." These were the four all-black divisions ( with white officers ) used to fight and defeat the "Indians" in the West after the Civil War. But Black and Native people were able to form partnerships as shown by the example of the Black Seminoles. This unique group formed beginning in the 18th Century, as slaves escaped into Spanish-controlled Florida, taking shelter with the Seminole Nation in Florida. Andrew Jackson's invasion of Florida was partly for the purpose of returning "stolen Negroes" to their "rightful" owners.
All in all, an incredible history that deserves to be better known and the story takes us to the rise of both the Black and Red Power movements.