Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom (American Crossroads) [Hardcover]

Tiya Miles (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Crossroads | Publication Date: February 11, 2005

This beautifully written book tells the haunting saga of a quintessentially American family. It is the story of Shoe Boots, a famed Cherokee warrior and successful farmer, and Doll, an African slave he acquired in the late 1790s. Over the next thirty years, Shoe Boots and Doll lived together as master and slave and also as lifelong partners who, with their children and grandchildren, experienced key events in American history--including slavery, the Creek War, the founding of the Cherokee Nation and subsequent removal of Native Americans along the Trail of Tears, and the Civil War. This is the gripping story of their lives, in slavery and in freedom.
Meticulously crafted from historical and literary sources, Ties That Bind vividly portrays the members of the Shoeboots family. Doll emerges as an especially poignant character, whose life is mostly known through the records of things done to her--her purchase, her marriage, the loss of her children--but also through her moving petition to the federal government for the pension owed to her as Shoe Boots's widow. A sensitive rendition of the hard realities of black slavery within Native American nations, the book provides the fullest picture we have of the myriad complexities, ironies, and tensions among African Americans, Native Americans, and whites in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Along with a fascinating biography, this book offers an utterly original angle on American history itself.--New Haven Review

From the Inside Flap

"In this lyrical narrative about Shoeboots, Doll, and their descendants, Tiya Miles explores the constant push and tug between family connections and racial divides. Building on meticulous and inspired historical detective work, Miles shows what it might have felt like to be a slave and reassesses the convoluted ideas about race that slavery generated and left as a legacy."--Nancy Shoemaker, author of A Strange Likeness: Becoming Red and White in Eighteenth-Century North America

"Ties That Bind is a haunting and innovative book. Tiya Miles refuses to avoid or cover over the most painful aspects of the shared stories of Indians and African Americans. Instead, Miles passionately defends the need to explore history, even when the facts provided by history are not those that contemporary people want to hear."--Peggy Pascoe, author of Relations of Rescue: The Search for Female Moral Authority in the American West, 1874-1939

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 329 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (February 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520241320
• ISBN-13: 978-0520241329
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative, April 15, 2005

By 

Rev. Sandra L. Daniel (Denver CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom (American Crossroads) (Hardcover)

I recently finished reading Tiya Miles' book. Several things impressed me regarding this work; the first one is the topic. I was surprised to learn that at one time Native Americans owned slaves! I am a college educated retired teacher and I believe this is something I should have learned somewhere in my education. I was also impressed with the research that was used as a basis for Ms. Miles' writing. A reader of her work has more than ample supply of resources to use for further reading. I also believe this book should be required reading for any American history curriculum at the college level.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding scholarship and storytelling!, March 28, 2005

By 

Richard L. Pangburn (Bardstown, KY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom (American Crossroads) (Hardcover)

First, let me say how much I enjoyed this book. It is a work of tremendous research informed by a mature mind which deeply understands the roles of history and story in creating self-identity.

I was alerted to its existence by Ilene Shepard Smiddy, author of DAUGHTER OF SHILOH, also a splendid narrative/adventure retelling a part of the Shoeboots story, but centering on Clarinda Allington and her children.

Dr. Miles provides us with a helpful family tree in the front of the book, and inside there are maps that help orient the story. The historical asides and reflections using Toni Morrison's BELOVED are treasures. Inside too are several illustrations and pictures, including one of a Shoeboots descendant. The text is divided into logical chapters. The notes are easy to follow and delicious to read, and they are followed by a full bibliography and a comprehensive index.

I would like to see the notes expanded to include the family of Napoleon Bonaparte, perhaps a grandson of Shoeboots, or of one of the Shoeboots, and who entered the mainstream population in Kentucky as a free black.

As Dr. Miles points out, there was more than one individual who was referred to as the Boot or Shoeboots (and other nicknames, in both English and Cherokee), and I suspect that this was a concept name involving the crow or the rooster--the hero of a Cherokee parable. It is fascinating to read about here, and her arguments are engaging. Highly recommended reading!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revealing Little Known History, January 4, 2007

By 

Herbert E. Cheatham (Bonney Lake, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom (American Crossroads) (Hardcover)

This book provides excellent insight into a little known part of American history. Few people realize that some American Indian tribes (particularly the "Five Civilized Tribes") practiced slavery and this text delves into the complex relationships resulting from it. The impact of the practice has repercussions still felt today. Most importantly, it reveals the rarely addressed interaction between African-Americans and Native Americans dating back to the earliest history of the United States.