Documenting Slavery In Chickasaw and Choctaw Country

Chickasaw Choctaw Herald 1859 Ad Requesting

Desire to purchase young black boys and girls

Those interested in not only the institution of slavery in Indian Territory but also the less studied institution in Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations, need not look any further than the publications from the two nations themselves.

From the Chickasaw Choctaw Herald, published in Tishomingo, one can see requests for slaves even in the late 1850s. For example, there is an ad placed by "A. Harlan". The ad was requesting young people "Negro boys and girls" to purchase as slaves in 1859. Specifically Mr. A Harlan appears to have been successful in his request, because the 1860 slave schedule from the Tishomingo District of the Chickasaw Nation shows a slave holder called Aaron Harlan and the record reflects the people that he held 11 people enslaved. Of the people he held in bondage were 3 adults, and the remainder of the enslaved were all under 20. And and as the slave document indicates they lived in three small slave cabins.

1860 Slave Schedule of Tishomingo Districts of the Chickasaw Nation

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In the Choctaw Nation, as early as 1851 as slavery occurred, so did the act of resistance of the enslaved. An ad from the Choctaw Intelligencer reflects the effort of H. N. Folsom to have a young boy seeking freedom returned to him. And by the language in the ad, if the young man could not be taken alive, the slave catcher would still be paid, for his scalp.

Choctaw Intelligencer 1850 Runaway Slave Ad

Other publications in Indian Territory also reflected acts of resistance among the enslaved, such as the freedom seekers of 1842 who fled the Cherokee Nation from the estate of Joseph "Rich Joe" Vann. Publications such as the Cherokee Phoenix also reflected the efforts of enslaved people who sought nothing more than the right to live their lives as free people.

The most understudied however, are the stories and struggles of those held in bondage in the  Choctaw Nation and the Chickasaw Nations. Though hard to find in scholarly works, it was the efforts of the enslaved who sought freedom who did leave a small trail in the press and on some official records of their presence and of their acts seeking freedom and the mere chance to live.

Early newspapers from Indian Territory reflect their presence and use of these publications as well as official records is encouraged. They story is larger than one single family, and larger than one single community. This is part of the larger untold narrative of the land that became Oklahoma. It is hoped that the story from these two nations will become part of the greater Oklahoma story.