Quote:
Originally posted by DoggyStyle82:
ORIGINAL APE: those so-called Civilized tribes sided with the Confederacy because they had white chiefs who duped the tribes. The famous Sequoia was a white man. The chief who signed away the sovereign rights and lands of the real Cherokee, was a white mand by the name of Joseph Clark. The dispossessed Cherokee were then sent on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma where 70% of them died on the journey. The Cherokee left in NC, Tenn, and GA were mostly "white" and half-white. Real Indians did not own slaves because they were not American citizens, therefore, the only ones who could own them were the legally "white" ones. The Seminole Indians were really Cherokees who objected to the whites having leadership in their tribes and objected to them selling their lands and making deals with the US government. "Seminole" is the Cherokee word for "runaway". These disgruntled Indians ran away to Florida and liberated many slaves in the process. The Seminole Nation was comprised of almost 40% escaped slaves and fought a 40 year war with the US govt.
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Hey brutha:
Most of what you say is accurate; but I have to correct you on a few things. First, all of the five civilized tribes owned slaves; and the government RESPECTED their ownership. Even free blacks "owned" slaves; and as longs as their papers were in order, that ownership was respected as well. Secondly, the Seminoles were not Cherokees; they happen to be members of the Creek Nation that were "sympathetic" to the plight of the African slave. There name comes from the Creek language, and it means runaway; but it was a crack on their kin folk that felt sorry for the slave.
As for being duped, I will agree. The government told all of these tribes that if they don't get involved(on the side of the confederacy), they would loose their lands. The divide-and-conquer theory was in full practice then, just as it is today.
I know these things because I am 3rd generation Creek.
[This message has been edited by The Original Ape (edited February 03, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by The Original Ape (edited February 03, 2001).]