Introduction
Having been born and raised in Oklahoma, a state home to many American Indian tribes, I have always identified as Native American. My family tells stories of the ancestors from North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama who escaped the Dawes commission and refused to be registered as Indians. My family is not the only one that identifies with “Native America” and “Native Oklahoma,” both very apt slogans of the Department of Tourism in the state of Oklahoma. Most Oklahomans would say they have Native American heritage. Last year, I asked my students how many had Native ancestors. Close to 70 percent said they did. However, when I asked how many have a CDIB card (proof of Indian blood) or a tribal membership card, less than 10 percent said yes. Why then do we self-identify? Is identification the same as having blood quantum and how does that work with the few that have actual citizenship in an American Indian tribe?
As a teacher in a Title 1 school from an urban district in Tulsa Oklahoma, I see generational poverty, poor education, lack of motivation and a crisis of identity. I am not sure of the exact percentage, but anecdotally about half my students come from families involved with drugs, gangs, welfare, unemployment, and the criminal justice system. My kids are looking for a something to believe in and a way out. Therefore, my question becomes what can I teach them about Native American Indians in the United States that will connect to their lives? Seventy-five percent of my students are either African American or mixed race with only 5 percent statistically identified as American Indian. So why did almost 70 percent say they were Indian? This seeming disparity has to do with the long history of the relationships between American Indians, European Americans and African Americans and the unique history of Oklahoma.
In order for my students to understand current issues with American Indians, we really have to explore the history of the African Americans and American Indians. With the high percentage of mixed Native and Afro-American blood, the historical relationships between Natives and African Americans are not only interesting to my students but are also helpful in understanding some of the current controversies American Indians are facing today. I wanted to look at all of the Five “Civilized” Tribes (hereafter referred to as the Five Tribes). However, there is so much information that it is almost impossible to cover it all. I have narrowed my focus onto one tribe, the Muscogee (Creeks). The relationship of the Creeks with African Americans is a long and intricate one, but I think it is a good window into understanding a lot of the relationships seen across the country. The complications of tribal citizenship, blood quantum, ethnic identity and tribal self-determination are a microcosm of what happened in the larger history of the United States, including the larger issues of slavery, removal, reservations, allotment, termination, citizenship, Jim Crow laws, civil rights and Native identity.
This unit will encompass several parts of United States history that will spread over the course of the school year. Each period of US historical development will include a part of the unit. The mapping of each part of the unit and Oklahoma state standards will be discussed later. I will also include a sample of a lesson plan and activities from the period of allotment that will eventually be a part of a student’s exploration of assimilation vs. Jim Crow, forced integration vs forced segregation. The unit is also a perfect fit for Oklahoma history classes, as it will touch on topics and standards from Colonization to the New Deal. Please see the appendix on State Standards for more information.
It is worth taking a moment to explain names and the use of labels. There are times in the unit that I use the terms Blacks, Whites, Natives and Indians. Much of the scholarly work and primary sources I use in the unit also use these terms. These terms are still in wide use in Oklahoma, and for my students, will be clearer than the terminology of African American, European American, and American Indian. Therefore, it is probably necessary to define the limits of each term and explain the changing definitions according to the historical context.
The Creeks, including the largest band, Muscogee, have at different times in their history included those who are Full-blood Native, Mixed Blood, Afro-Creek, and Freedmen. I will use the term Native or Indian to refer to people who have some level of blood quantum even though in the most common usage it would include all those who identify as American Indian. I use the term white interchangeably with European American. The terms black and Negro will sometimes be used in the primary sources, but I will use the term African American or Afro-Creek. I will also use the historical categories of social status used by the Creeks. The original categories placed those who were Whites mixed with Native as higher social status as full-blood Creeks. From the Civil War until the 20th Century, Afro-Creeks (mixed African American and Native, regardless if mixed with White also) had a higher social status to Freedmen who were strictly former slaves who had no Native blood. Once the Dawes Commission and Oklahoma statehood forced the issue, the Afro-Creek and Freedmen distinction almost disappears.
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