Most people are familiar with the Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears they endured as part of their forced removal from their Southeastern homelands. But did you know that the Cherokees and four other Indian nations owned Black slaves? What about the fact that members of these slave-owning nations fought in the Civil War to maintain the institution of slavery, as well as their land claims in modern-day Oklahoma? In this seminar, you will learn about these parallel histories of slavery, military battle, and freedom, and identify primary sources you can use to teach your students about the complex relationships between Black and Native people in the trans-Mississippi west.
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