Bow Fishing Among Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen

 One often reads about the culture and life within Indian Territory. However, in reference to the community of Freedmen, very little is mentioned.  A few glimpses of how people lived occassionally appear from rare images captured in the 1890s, some of which reflected the lives of Freedmen in Choctaw country. Many of the images were captured during the Dawes years, when dozens of families gathered to enroll, and photographers were present to capture some of those images.

One image that many are familiar with, is an image of Freedmen who were fishing in one of the many creeks and streams in the Territory.

The image was not a random one, it actually reflected an aspect of how many fished and were able to bring food to their families. Such a fishing method carried on into the 20th century among tribal members.

An interesting article about an elder Nero Perry, a Choctaw Freedman appeared in the Talihina American, in 1906. This elder who was in his mid 70s at the time, still did most of his hunting and fishing with bow and arrow. 

Brought to the Territory during the Chickasaw Removal to the west, Nero Perry lived within the cultural Chickasaw community practicing the lifestyle and culture of the only community that he knew.

Talihina American, 11 Oct 1906 p 2

At the time of the Dawes Commission, Nero Perry lived in the Woodford community, where numerous other Freedmen lived. He was enrolled with his wife Ann, both of whom were in the 60s at the time. 

Ancestry.com. Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914 

[database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Original data: Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1186,

93 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Thankfully, though both Nero and wife Ann were elders, and having been brought to the Territory during the Removal, both had a strong memory of their parents and were able to share their names during the years of Dawes Enrollment. Nero's parents were Siah and Lizzie Perry, and the parents of his wife were Sam and Jane Burney. As the article mentioned, Nero had been enslaved by McLish. His wife Ann had been enslaved by Nancy Smith.

It is noted that the parents of each of them had different Chickasaw slaveowners, and were held in bondage by the same person, which reflects how enslaved people were often held by different people and not together as a family, under the same slave holding person. Thankfully their memory of their parents was still with them by the 1890s and their names could be shared, unlike others whose knowledge of loved ones was taken during the years of slavery.  

Hopefully both of them lived to be with their parents after slavery was finally abolished in 1866, and it is hoped that their lives were lives of peace and contentment during their latter years. They remained in the Territory after Freedom, and well into his 70s Nero Perry sustained his life by hunting and bow fishing.

May he be always remembered.