JSouth,

From you list, I can surmise that the only Indians involved with enslaving 
the black man were those who were in proximity of the white slaveowners and 
encouraged to "assimilate" by immitating the white upper crust. The vast 
number of Native groups to the north seem not to be included in your list, 
nor were the Eastern Indians such as the Powhatan, the Mattaponi, and other 
tribes that had the first contact with colonists. One might conclude that 
Indians holding black slaves was a corruption from White contact as surely 
as smallpox was.

Also, there is the question of ownership. Did the individual Indians own 
their slaves? Were they "owned" by the tribe and used in common? Were they 
free to marry into the tribe or were they kept separate and allowed only to 
marry among other blacks? In short, did slavery have the same meaning in the 
tribes you mentioned, as to the whites?

Anne

Anne Pemberton
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http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org