Customer Reviews

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I first came across this book while visiting FoxWoods. It was the cover and topic that caught my eye.

The book was not written to be scholarly work. It was written to tell a part of history that is not taught in schools. I was impressed the author was about to pull together such an amount of information. I would think that there would be very little record written about African Americans and Native Indians nowadays.

Overall the book is a good introduction. More work needs to be done to expand this topic / genre.

William Loren Katz has created an excellent book dealing with one of the most misunderstood and least recognized subject matters in american history. His research has helped to shed light on how this relationship has helped to shape current day american culture and society. Little did I realize just how important the relationship between these two groups were. Both black and red peoples became allies in the struggle to gain freedom and equality while struggling to salvage traditional ways of living. I only hope that others will continue research into this most fascinating subject matter. Being a individual with both ancestry, I have been motivated to take an increased interest in conducting research into my own genealogy!

I came across this book by accident while placing an order at a bookstore. I had requested a book that could not be ordered but was informed of "Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage" as one to order. This book has answered many of my questions pertaining to the relationship of the Native and African-Americans. I've learned so much from reading this book what the schools never taught me. Therefore, I will make sure my childen, family, friends, and people whose path I briefly cross have the same opportunity to read and learn from this book as I have. I cannot express enough my appreciation for the author in writing this book for people like myself. I am more proud than ever of my Native and African-American heritage.

Reading this book showed me how skewed my historical training was in school. Consider yourself ignorant of key elements of American history until you have read this book. So many people think of the Indians as dead and gone, but as a proud descendant of both Native and African Americans, I know that many Indians blended with a sister culture and many traditions live on mingled together in the original melting pot of America.

The 'Preface' tells about the controversy caused by this book. Governments used racial mixtures to violate treaties (p.2). The existence of Black Indians has been banned from most school books and histories (p.3). Yet it is a fact in North and South America. This book attempts to correct the historical record. Katz wonders if the attacks on Indians was to prevent any alliance with Africans (p.7). Most Black Indians are found in big cities, not in rural areas (p.9). Popular knowledge has come from Hollywood myths, not historical reality (p.14). In effect, the history books lied (p.17). Chapter 2 reviews the failed colony of Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth. The first foreign colony in North America was on the Pee Dee river (p.22). The African slaves fled to join the Indians and this Spanish colony collapsed (p.24). There is a quote from Bishop Las Casas about conditions (pp.26-27). [Does the story about working laborers to death remind you of Nazi policies (p.29)?] Slaves escaped their misery by fleeing to join Indians (p.32). Does this explain the attacks on Indians and their relocation to reservations?

African slaves would revolt when they had a chance, or flee into the wilderness (Chapter 3). Commercial rivalry leads to wars (p.42). Maroon settlements survived by a strong military defense (p.44). Spanish Florida was a refuge for runaway slaves (Chapter 4). The Seminole Wars were an attempt to capture runaway slaves, a problem for slave owners in Georgia (Chapter 5). These Seminoles ("runaways") later migrated to Mexico. After the Civil War ended many returned to the US. Chapter 6 tells of the Seminole Indian Scouts of the US Army. Chapter 7 tells of the exploits of Estevanico, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, and York (Lewis and Clark expedition). Chapter 8 skims over the relations between Africans and Native Americans over the centuries. The role of Afro-Americans in the early 19th century fur-trading is covered in Chapter 9. One reason Indian communities were driven westward was their harboring of runaway slaves (Chapter 10). The Plains Indians regarded both Europeans and Africans as the enemy.

Chapter 11 begins by telling of the Civil War among the Indians. The leaders of the Five Civilized Nations favored the Confederacy. This led to overturning existing treaties (p.143). Katz writes about the hidden history of Oklahoma. Is there some popular sympathy for criminals (p.155)? If political oppression creates poverty, and poverty causes crime, there is no mystery why some oppressed people turn to crime ("Robin Hood" in Chapter 11). Katz's story of "Billy the Kid" is not totally correct (p.158). There was nothing romantic about the Rufus Buck gang (p.163). Chapter 13 tells about the black cowboys who are missing from popular histories (p.170). So too the US Colored Troops (p.174).
This book is important in revealing facts missing from history books and Hollywood dramas.

BLACK INDIANS: A HIDDEN HERITAGE provides a definitive account of a largely overlooked segment of this nation's population, returning to new audiences an outstanding treatise of antique prints, photos, and research. From the positions of black Seminoles and other tribes to Africans who found places to hide among the Indians, chapters trace the concurrent histories of black and Native American peoples and the many connections they have to this day.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This important contribution to a long-overlooked subject is marred by a number of minor, but annoying factual errors. For example, Capt. John Smith used a *revolver* to order the people of Jamestown to work. That said, there are few other sources of information that address this issue, and if for his courage alone, Katz deserves our thanks

Should be read at Black Church Groups, then let the schools catch up about this great people

I haven't read the book yet but when I looked it up in the my library's catalog it was listed under young adult (hence the reading level was posted as ages 9-12). Disregard the rating I chose though because Amazon would not let me post this review without rating it.

This book is a great Primer to a lost heritage. It makes you want to go ut and find more info on the subject. You will not be dissapointed!