Review by Choice Review
Among the Indian population making the forced removal to Indian Territory along the Trail of Tears in the winter of 1839-40 were a number of African-descended people, most of whom were slaves of the Indians. The move to Indian Territory did not bring about significant changes in the slaves' status. The Cherokee created a body of slave laws similar to that of the slaveholding states, designed to control the slaves' behavior. As among the larger US population, the relationship between one drop of blood and racial identity became part of Cherokee culture. Ideas of blood and identity became more complex as other distinctions were developed that involved Cherokee identity, such as "mixed blood" and "full blood," and were adopted by enslaved African Indians. In 1863, the Cherokee National Council freed all persons held as slaves. However, it did not take up the matter of incorporating the freed people within the Nation. This was achieved in the Treaty of 1866, which extended to the Cherokee freedmen all the rights of Native Cherokees. However, the freed people found that their claims to Cherokee citizenship, including land settlement, became subject to certain limitations. All told, the freed people found their rights severely limited. A well researched, documented, and presented study. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. A. A. Sio emeritus, Colgate University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
