Thank you for joining me for you for joining us for todays program with Alaina Roberts. We inspired teaching teaching learning indyk mentees. Very founded in 1887 dedicated to our collective understanding of ourselves in the worldiv arod us. We connect researchers and visitors with their collections exhibition gallery programs classrooms and on line additional resources. We opened our doors to readers and visitors and you can visit our web site toward making appointment to do research or stop by the libraryo without an appointment to visit our exposition hall. A rosenberg workshop is open wednesdays and saturdays. You can visit the web site to learn about our current exhibitions and Public Programs series called the age of revolution across the americas and the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The exhibition will open july july 24. Its one example of the Newbury Librarys commitment to Public Engagement and intellectual engagement. 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And as my pleasure to introduce todays speaker, doctor Alaina Roberts it assistant professor of history at the university of pittsburgh she focuses on the intersection of africanamericans and native american histories and 19th century to the modern day particular attention to identity colonialism and and tight black and in addition to ive been here all the while black freedom on native land, was published by the university of Pennsylvania Press in 2021, dr. Alaina roberts has appeared in the washington post, the civil war era in the historic orderly. At this point we have things over to dr. Alaina roberts. Alaina hello and im so happy to be here virtually to share the book with you all and thank you who ran the planning for this program like a well oiled machine so i want to introduce myself by saying that all the review i do as a historian of professors connected to my family. People who identify themselves as africanamericans i come from people who were enslaved for generations. But in my fathers side, our ancestors were not owned by white people, we were owned by native americans in the 1830s, the home there and he numbers when journey as we know making their way to oklahoma which was then known as indian territory. And during the civil war the confederacy and the confederacy lost the United Government forced by owners with other made in native american hunters just freed their slaves and provide them with land. And so it about a minute, i just reframed how people think about slavery in the civil war and the reconstruction. In all of these events that are important to the countrys history were different for my family because they were with Indian Nations not within the United States and retelling reshaping this history is a core of my book. Ive been here all the while black freedom on native land, in one of the key thing so i book is it means that native americans adopted slavery in firstplace taking on ideas about race that we use only usually for black people and another thing, it is how anticipation some africanamericans took on negative and harmful thoughts about native americans as they relate to the blocks. So this evening im going to give you an overview of history and talk to you about some of the negative interactions between black in native americans and the past and can we Work Together as allies today. So lets start with the native americans began to own black people as slaves. In the late 17 hundreds and early 18 hundreds, wider market politicians encourage native americans particular way of the eastern and southeast two aspects of the American Culture which language clothing and political structures. Arguing this was civilized and this may be familiar to some of you. For example henry the secretary of war, and president George Washington advocated what we encourage native americans particularly those in the east and southeast to adopt aspects of your American Culture such as clothing and political structures are doing this would civilize them. This may be familiar to some of the perfect sample henry knoxs secretary to president George Washington at the k. What we call civilization policy because he believed in a bonanza for more like they be willing to give up their land and is ideal world would use their reduced land engaging in agriculture and land use and disavow and the tradition of Land Ownership. As child became an alton to american societies they encourage people to become and they were considered really the height of economic success. During this perry all Indian Tribes took on various facets of American Culture and ignored those that didnt see them for example christian religion and american generals were two things that most people in the chickasaw nation to nation which several members of their family didnt embrace those until arguably the early 20th century. They had people missed time picking and choosing what they are interested in what they care about but many of the wealthiest most influential members of five Indian Nations began to buy insulates people like my family members. Ition to slavery with these five tribes also do things like newspapers the model of europeanamerican newspapers and create government structure similar to the United States so these are two things working really alongside each other, native american governors as well as other governors. And for these reasons because of these choose to assimilate in various ways, white americans began calling them five civilized tribes which americans now refer to them as five tribes because five celebs tribes is complex and now along with the slaveowning development in these tribes some had the idea that the people were inferior and wild just like in the United States the majority of people do not own slaves, the ending the lisa did, was it created a culture and economy the highly values slavery and slave owners. And then in the 1830s, an event or process came alive with all of the slaveholding tribes as well as the black people who lived among them and thats integral so since contact the british add reconcile the fact that they wanted the native American Land with the reality that they didnt have the manpower the resources to just take my force, thats of the treaties and agreements with native people for partial land or control of various regions. During the colonial period and people europeans negotiated the settlement on relatively equal grounds often with native American People have more power and influence in these relationships using measures as well as war and violence. But after the revolutionary war of course the white encroachment on native American Land is increased as some sought resources and homesteads and moved farther west and as plantation south in the 19th century with five agriculturally rich, they began illegally squatting of the land the government followed during this trans passing and banned these laws over the native americans in the lead up rated as a result part of an effort to either force the indians to move as the americans had tried to get him to do since really the beginning of the country, or to allow whites to take their land. Now native American People fought against this and sometimes militarily through war or conflict but also through law which do what they were told to do and what civilized did, they used a lot. Well thieves are ultimately unsuccessful for the majority the native people especially these five tribes so you probably know, is been going on through the 1830s and present Andrew Jackson a test shows the support for white southerners with during the advocating for the indian removal act predict for good reasons, the war is considered for many tribes to be a foundational journey, a journey that solidifies theres resilience as a people. But what i want you to take from this talk is that indian removal is that same thing for many of these enslaved people who endured alongside of their owners in the five tribes. So african descendents they remove the removal and remember that is. And assure history with these tribes. So there are really two different ways of the black community and the native intersect, first that indian removal was necessary for the plantation slavery and the second, the indian removal itself involves people of african descent. Now as for these tribes rebuilding after removal, historians argue that actually they rebuilt it better than before and so they course and homes and plantations and there are many people are very economically successful and again but is been known as indian territory. But about 30 years passed in the United States is increasingly divided over slavery. And hence we have the civil war and nation who work it had influential families black women and men they were very interested in these discussions in the United States about humanity and the civil war and slavery in all these things we think about seem to this country, were also very important in the five tribes. And sometimes especially in the nations they were large over the institution of slavery in ever joining in the war. Now as a confederacy and building alliances, in an effort the confederacy talk to the five tribes, and very familiar with members of the tribe and they tell them what they want to hear the argue that they would give them what the United States has not been giving them. So they said they will allow them to have more to say and they will allow to have representation and allow them to keep the indian territory forever without White Settlement and more reliable and pay them money for the homelands. And, and for some of you elites, they would allow them to keep slavery while the union after 1863 was not. If the confederacy kept these problems, probably not after all the confederacy was partially composed of the states that had the homelands run 30 years earlier grade of us to leave the treaties were enticing to the members of the five tribes created new have a shared ideology around slavery and members of the five tribes have and think are very important. And you also have geography, so the indian territory essentially were these five tribes are located, are very close to texas arkansas and confederate strongholds and the more western part of the country this time so its important that they had some sort of protections so the practical aspects of Legal Alliance as well as shared sentiment around slavery. So it leading into the work, members of all of these tribes five of the union and the confederacy and others are refugees actually lead in a territory helping to avoid fighting or having to shoot a battle. About 14000 of fought in and around these indian territories just like in the United States number of enslaved black man five for the union or forced to work for their confederate owners doing physical labor predominantly. And when the war is over, the United States guitars the fact that some tribal members had fought for the union they ignore the fact that they had not given the five tribes any production would not give them extra meaning and munitions and instead, the United States use of the that some tribal members have fought for the confederacy against them. So the ask twice the five tribes with the confederacy as behavior probably deserving of punishment and distrust of the claim because they made an alliance and the confederacy that the United States, we had a valid treaties with them. And so they threaten to withhold money that they desperately need after a war unless they sign these treaties. They do because they have been coerced into it so these treaties are called the treaties of 1866 in service of five tribes official as well as the reconstruction documents. What, i mean, by that. Some of the most extreme items in these treaties is a session of land. So the five tribes are forced to give up a majority of the land they had really just moved on only around 30 years earlier. In the other three big items of these treaties is five tribes emancipate the enslaved people of the nations of the adopt them as citizens and they had to give them land. The chickasaw nations had to give them specifically 40 acres of land up rated farrell familiar with reconstruction are really black history in general, and you know how significance that 40 acres is because africanamericans did not get part of that said this in the United States coming into another nation Indian Nations that are supposed to have the right to create their own laws and run their own nation to be completely sovereign in just about every other way in the u. S. Is saying going to force you to free enslaved people because our we ourselves cannot do but were quite a fortune to adopt the assistance and give them all the rights of citizenship and we ourselves in 1956 have not yet done. Going to force you to give them land predict now is this right, legally now read now the nation had ordered emancipation of 1863 so they were the only ones of the five who decided to do this without direct coercion afraid of it all the others, chickasaws, choctaws, cherokees, seminoles, creeks, if they had, we dont know. What are they given their former slaves rights and citizenship. Probably not. They were given the land, probably not but this freedom, these rights and especially this land predict the former slaves of the five tribes on a different plane, the africanamericans in the United States they give them different opportunities, and these opportunities are why so many black people of emancipation why theres many black in towns and white has black wall street of course, the anniversary of the massacre just past the more people are far more aware of the black wall street in its existence. And so at this moment, and reconstruction indian territory history is really one of those interesting historical moments where my identity is both historian and dissented of former slaves which i call craig people. And i have to recognize something is legally wrong as u. S. Intervention in the foreign nation or is Indian Nation known after the turkey nation in the Georgia Supreme Court case domestic case the nation. But i also have to recognize the people like my family might never have been freight if not for these technically legal and just actions on the part of the United States. Now going to use that term for former slaves and again and again. In a free people in general target i use my work to refer to any former slaves of any of five tribes and of course more specifically, the chickasaws freed men and women specifically. And so the reason that the land designated for indian trade people of 1866 is different as historically significant is because this was black land on her throat american governments actions and they had not been able to agree on given the africanamericans in the United States, land and it was frankly impossible. Some are very republicans who are moderate to imagine taking land from a white person giving it to a black person. As im or no, Property Ownership was and continues to be one of the most revered American Values but republicans such as the secretary of interior and affairs at the time, could not given any lead to african descent. Because of the valley of land and valued private ownership is way that white americans did. So they saw indias use use of land is uncivilized not properly utilizing the land. Therefore to them giving lenten them feels the lofty idealistic will republican called a black ownership while still allowing whites in the United States maintain their plan and so here in the United States, using this idea of indian savagery against the five tribes as i told you earlier used to be considered civilized rated different from other native people. But now no longer political plea you spoke of the five tribes are once again uncivilized. And it changed about five people to take ownership of land in indian territory. In indian free people of the five tribes played into that. I want to tell you that chickasaws man and the way he talks about his former owners. And he says at that time, the indians did not have anything but small farms and of course among them, they worked like they should. The slaves enough corn to make the bread. And so this may seem maybe this isnt that bad language that he uses, they didnt work like they should. I mean, using the idea of americanness as craig will but