Black Slaves, Indian Masters
Slavery, Emancipation, and Citizenship in the Native American South

That many Native Americans once owned African-American slaves is, or should be, common knowledge. That most of these slave-owners belonged to the “Five Civilized Tribes” of the southeast should come as no surprise. That their enslaved dependents’ experiences differed in some respects from those of w......more

This is such a good starting point for the topic of Native Americans enslaving people of African descent. It focuses primarily on the Choctaw and Chickasaw, and examines issues of citizenship recognition, sovereignty, land rights, and disenfranchisement. Krauthamer does a fantastic job in articulati......more

Important reading. Stuff they definitely didn't address in history class in school. It focuses much more on the tribes and their treaties and dealings than it does with the lives of the enslaved people. That may be due to what kind of records we have. Would recommend reading, though.......more

Black Slaves, Indian Masters was set up to be a look at the racial hierarchy of three races and classes in the American South: white government leaders, Indian landowners, and black slaves. Barbara Krauthamer puts the relationships among these three groups under a lens in this book, trying to explai......more

I became interested in this topic after watching a documentary on Black Wall Street and the Tulsa race massacres. I was unaware that Native Americans owned and brought slaves to Indian Territory when they were relocated from the south. I assumed I would discover Native Americans treated slaves bette......more