- HISTORY / African American
- HISTORY / Native American
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Regional (see also TRAVEL / Pictorials)
- SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination & Race Relations
- SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
- HISTORY / African American
- HISTORY / Native American
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Regional (see also TRAVEL / Pictorials)
- SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination & Race Relations
- SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
Oklahoma Freedmen of the Five Tribes
9781467154772
Regular price $23.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Explore accounts of Oklahoma’s Freedmen as told by their descendants in these stories of resistance and resilience on the Western frontier. The Freedmen of Oklahoma were black people, both enslaved and free, who had been living among the Indian nations. After the official abolition of slavery in 1866, they forged an identity as their own people as they faced the challenges of the western frontier. By 1906, before Oklahoma statehood, over 20,000 people were classified as “Freedmen” from Five Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations. For decades, their descendants have been rediscovering their family history and restoring its place in the larger narrative. Angela Walton-Raji has compiled this collection of stories, told by descendants from all five tribes, to ensure that the Freedmen of Oklahoma claim their vibrant part of the state’s heritage.
Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District
9781467111287
Regular price $23.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
Oklahoma City's African American Education
9781467127400
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
Enslaved on the Trail of Tears
9781467171540
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%A Harrowing Heritage of Resilience
Beginning in the 1820s, Indian removal saw scores of families of African descent forced west alongside the so-called Five Civilized Tribes. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations all brought their own slaves on the arduous, obligatory journey. These tribes demonstrated shared patterns—including Native women enslavers—as well as important distinctions. Seminole records more frequently preserved the names of their enslaved, reflecting resistance to removal and the central role of Black Seminoles. But enslaved people were present at every stage of removal, even when misclassified or omitted entirely from official records. Power operated differently within each tribe. Gender shaped vulnerability and authority. Enslavement and forced migration reconfigured tribal societies during one of the most traumatic periods in their histories. Drawing on oral accounts and extensive documentation, Terry J. Ligon’s unique scholarship restores voice and lineage to the remarkable survival of those carried west in bondage on the Trail of Tears.
The Choctaw Freedmen of Skullyville
9781467170024
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%From settlement to sediment
Unlike the freedman communities in Spiro, Ft. Coffee and Poteau, the town of Skullyville faded into a forgotten ghost town. Dr. G. E. Hartshorne’s 1950 “Skullyville and Its People in 1889” chronicled the inhabitants’ lifestyle and culture. Yet he excluded many that arrived in the 1830s, having survived the long and arduous journey of the Trail of Tears. Enslaved people of African descent, arriving alongside their Choctaw masters, were seldom mentioned in contemporaneous accounts. They labored for decades without pay, or the comforts of freedom. Their tribal oppressors joined the Confederates, vowing to maintain their slaveholding lifestyle. Conversely, some from Skullyville resisted by joining the Union Army. Many lived to see freedom, and established livelihoods after abolition. In April of 1866, Choctaw leaders joined the Chickasaw at Fort Smith to sign a peace treaty that abolished slavery and promised citizenship and suffrage to those once enslaved by their nations. Freedman descendent Angela Walton-Raji resurrects the lost voices of Skullyville and champions a legacy that outlasted the town itself.