Who Will Meet me on the Cultural Bridge?

After attending the sotrytellers symposium in Muskogee Oklahoma last month, the concept of being met on the bridge was a wonderful metaphor that continuously comes to my mind.  

I was glad to be there with colleagues from the Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen community, and with colleagues whose focus is to research, and document our own history.  We arrived in Muskogee with no expectations of warmth or inclusion, and with no concerns for exclusion rejection to come from native sectors.  And on one level we surprisingly did find inclusion thanks to the Five Tribes Museum, and on another level the exclusion expressed from others, came as no surprise.

The fact is: We were there, because our ancestors were there. Period.

But what I was left with, was the need to find those incredible stories of survival and persistence, and also of resistance, exhibited by Africans brought into Five Tribes as slaves.

  I realized that if we don't tell our stories their history might be altered---by fiction.

  

The story of Crossing Bok Chitto by Tim Tingle, was a heart warming one---- but, if not noted by those of us who come from both Mississippi and Oklahoma Choctaw communities---if  we don't do what we must do--history might be altered. If we do not tell our stories, inaccuracies might be recorded as truth.  We must share those stories of what happened-----all of the stories of what happened.

As Joyce Bear, former cultural preservationist of the Muscogee Creek Nation, told her stories from her grandmother---we too have to find those stories from our own grandmothers.  One could not help but be moved when hearing the story of little Creek children and how they were abused during the time of the removal.  

BUT----there are also, those stories of little slave girls, being sold as breeders, and at the age of 10 when no babies came, they were sold again----discarded as a bad purchase. Mary Grayson's mother was such a child, and I can only ask---who wept for that child?  

(Excerpt from WPA Interview with Mary Grayson 1937)

Who tells her story?  

Who sees her humanity?  

Who cares that her 10 year old body was ravaged by her Creek owners, taking her west on the removal?  

She suffered just as much as the Creek children also moving westward at the same time. 

So---------shouldn't her stories also be told?

Whose eyes fill with tears when some people speak of the time when the fires were lit?

  

Well African eyes also saw those same flames. Who speaks for them?

Stories such as Crossing Bok Chitto are heartwarming, but again we must be careful.  We have to look at all resources to tell the other stories.  Slavery happened, and terrible things occurred.  But there were exceptions, and Crossing Bok Chitto tells a story of one such exception. 

BUT that exception was not the norm---there was no strong sense of abolitionism in the 1820s in Mississippi. 

The slave uprisings in Choctaw country as late as 1861, in fact speak to the desire for freedom, felt in the bosoms of the enslaved.  

The ads for runaway slaves in papers such as the Choctaw Intelligencer speak to the efforts to keep them in bondage.

Choctaw Intelligencer, 1850

Runaway Slave Ad, Choctaw Intelligencer 1850

BUT when we tell those stories, we also must be fair.  As much as slavery prevailed it must be noted most Choctaws did not own slaves. There were relationships that prevailed and some of those relationships continued after slavery ended in 1866.  There were family ties, there were friendships and there were communities where former slaves lived with their Choctaw compatriots.

We don't have to sugar coat it, we only have the obligation to tell what happened.  However, there do remain, many challenges to telling what happened.

Today---so many of us are now strangers to each other.  

There is now a fear of interaction, between descendants of those once enslaved, and the Choctaws, and Chickasaws who lived among each other.  

Interestingly, if one was to visit black communities in Tishomingo, today, or attend a family gathering, one will find Pashofa served alongside the collard greens. At the family potluck one brings the cornbread while another brings the fry bread.  Grape dumplings are served in both black and Indian communities.  And many folks  in both communities have the great uncle who knows where to go and get the best sassafrass out in the country.

But now today----we don't greet, or receive greetings, we rarely smile at each other and keep a strange and safe distance from each other.  

And we heard repeatedly ---when push comes to shove there is a need to go "behind closed doors."  One of the Chickasaw speakers talked about the insistence upon telling the history---though admitted that she never knew even what clan she was from.  And of course there was the reminder, that some stories will not be told, they are reserved for certain people.  The message was sent and it was received.

None this was a surprise, to hear, and it was perhaps a defensive mechanism.  Recent years and lawsuits have brought out feelings of discomfort-----and even mentioning slavery in Indian country lets out a secret-- that five tribes, specifically THE Five Tribes held others in bondage, practicing the same institution---black chattel slavery.

Ok----slavery happened. Period. It was the times.  

With that said----people survived.  People lived and people shared many things, including land, life and in many cases family.

No one wishes to knock down your closed doors.  We too have doors that close.  We too have stories to tell, and we too, have prevailed.

We have more in common, than not in common.

So I wonder, who will meet me on the Cultural Bridge?

An Ancestral Poem - Their Story Has Not Yet Been Told......

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I was inspired after attending the storyteller's conference that more than ever, we, who descend from those Africans enslaved in the Five Tribes, we should tell the stories---the stories of what happened to them, the stories of how they survived, and the stories that helped them to thrive.  


All of the stories from the historic to the folklore, contain a rich cultural tradition of the African mixed with the Indian cultures in which so many were immersed.  It was after all, the only land, and the only world that our grandparents knew.   I therefore felt compelled to share this video and the accompanying poem that I wrote 


An Ancestral Poem

I know where my ancestors come from

But their story has not yet been told.

           

From a warmer land, suddenly taken,

Home no more forever forsaken.

In 1830 with Choctaws they came,

By '65 they remained still in chains.

I know where my ancestors come from.

But their story has not yet been told.

When Dancing Rabbit made the Choctaws leave,

they came too, once again so bereaved.

When Treaty of Doaksville brought the Chickasaws west

My people came---some purchased in haste.

I know where my ancestors come from

But their story has not yet been told.

They were Chahta Lusa in towns like Skullyville

Chicksa Lusta some were called in Doaksville.

In towns of both nations, their life was all toil.

But in '66, they stood on free soil.

I know where my ancestors come from

But their story has not yet been told.

Many clans they formed when finally freed

New settlements formed as free air they now breathed.

To Congress they wrote for the right just to learn

In bosom’s breast to live freely, they yearned.

I know where my ancestors came from

But their story has not yet been told.

Stevensons, Cheadles, Shoals and Kemps,

Christians, and Jones and Ligons and Camps

Eubanks families near Cavanaugh Hill

Came Waltons, and Burris and sons of Darneal

In towns like Berwyn, Milo, Poteau, and Howe,

McAlester, Idabel, and Ardmore, they’d vow

To live on the land and finally own

40 acre allotments forever their own.

 I know where my ancestors come from

But their story has not yet been told.

To those who dismissed them as slaves, of no worth

Our fathers and mothers who lost twice on this earth

These men, and women and children did thrive.

No more can the state, nor these nations hide

Their brethren, -- once family-- still part of the tribe. 

I know where my ancestors come from

And their story is NOW being told.


© Angela Y. Walton-Raji 2009

From the Trickster, to Grape Dumplings-Reflections from the Storyteller Conference

The weekend of September 23-24 was an enlightening experience and one that illustrated for several of us, the similarities between two peoples more than the differences

Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Descendants Carlotta Kemp Wheeler, Terry Ligon,

Joyce Shelton Settles, and Reuben Noah, (Choctaw Citizen)

.

This conference brought storytellers from all of the Five Tribes of Oklahoma, it was also an opportunity to learn and to appreciate the value of culture, of continuing traditions, and to sharing one's history and culture with the community. Although there were some speakers who spoke to the exclusivity of their practice i. e. "I don't tell my stories to outsiders"---it was clear to me, that more than ever, African Americans with ties to Indian Territory, have a rich history to celebrate, share, and invite others to enjoy as well.

But there is one primary difference that I felt:  With the African storyteller, there is no tradition to exclude others, because African people--whether they are from Indian Territory, or the Low Country of the Carolinas, or the Creoles of Louisiana---African Ancestored people have a tradition of welcome, trust and are we people of an hospitable spirit.

Interestingly what was evident as one who sat and enjoyed the presentations, I could not help but smile at the references to the creation stories, and the trickster stories.  Why?  Because the trickster stories from Africa to the Caribbean are alive and have a rich tradition, as well.  I smile when I recall Ananse the spider---who was sometimes the disguised as a rabbit--- and those stories that have charmed children from Western Africa to the West Indies.  Like most tricksters---Anansi (pronounced Ah-NAHN-see)  can take on many forms---sometimes as human, sometimes as another creature and Anansi stories (called "Nancy" stories in the West Indies)  have warmed the hearts of children for hundreds of years. How amazing to listen to the panelists who spoke of the tradition of trickster stories that also prevail within Muscogee Creek communities.

For myself as a Freedman descendant who studies the customs of African people of the Five Tribes, the similarities are evident to those of us who know.  

There are the similarities in our culture from the communities themselves---from language, religion and diet.  An example---the diet of Africans from the Territory is one that is just as rich rich in pashofa, grape dumplings, or possom grapes, as it is in greens, cornbread and barbecue. And all of these are still part of of our own family events to this day.

But----what also became evident to me, this weekend--- was the separation that now exists.  

Where at one time, we were people who once lived near each other, and once knew each other--- we now live apart, and now are strangers when only two generations ago---our ancestors were friends, and in many cases, they were family. But statehood, the Dawes allotment process and decades of enforced segregation made old friends now strangers, and former compatriots are now persons who distrust each other---preventing those similarities from being known to each other.  The "you are not of us" theme was there as some of the panelists spoke, and though not blatant, it was there, to those who know.

It was a delight to see scholar Daniel Littlefield present, hear him speak.  But on Saturday, it was painful to see how when he spoke, others on the same panel either pulled the cap over their faces, or physically backed away from the table, as if his remarks were not of value. The intolerance was evident, blatant and unnecessary. 

Author, and professor, Daniel L. Littlefield

There were the references to those "non-Indian writers" were made, and Dr. Littlefield addressed those references head on, and pointed out the fact that he was one of those non-Indian writers who has written for over 50 years, and has continually been honored by the tribes, and his  scholarship has yet to be criticized by Indian scholars, Indian tribal leaders and the Indian community.  The somewhat hostile treatment of such an esteemed writer and scholar in this way was a disappointment.

But---- the good part about the conference, was to note that that the determination of the storytellers to keep alive was genuine. And I personally reflected and realized that the stories that have been told in our homes that came from our grandparents, &their parents need to be told even more than ever. 

Though many of us are now strangers to each other we don't have to be.  

There were a few who did meet us half way across the bridge, as the plenary speaker suggested. But many never set foot on the metaphoric bridge. We were there in the middle of the metaphoric bridge already---for we had traveled over 1000 miles to be there, and to listen and to learn. Though very few bothered to extend a hand of of friendship--for it is not their way---what a loss of opportunity. 

As much was referenced to "the old ways" it should be remembered:

 No culture, is static. Those cultures that are static, are extinct.  The human experience is dynamic and it does grow and change as contact with others brings about that dynamic change.  And life, is change.

I often find the stories of those now gone, from the many narratives and documents left behind. And there on the landscape of NE Oklahoma one finds the evidence of the blending of people who lived near each other. As Muscogee heritage specialist pointed out, in many communities the African slaves brought their stories with them, and one even now hears the stories of Brer' Rabbit and others in Creek communities.  Indeed, as the Africans brought their traditions and culture with them, many former slaves took the Indian traditions and customs that they had learned back into their families and communities as well.  

No culture is static--that which is static is extinct.

All in all, the conference was an enlightening one.  The resounding theme for me----we must tell our own stories.  For it is from those stories that we have the evidence of our past, of our presence and ultimately of our future.

Special thanks go to the staff of the  Five Tribes Museum for hosting the reception and co-hosting the conference.  They are people whom we admire and appreciate and look forward to seeing again in the future. Their graciousness and their gesture of friendship and acceptance took courage and was appreciated by those of us who traveled to be there.  Their inclusion of our exhibit reflecting the history of the Freedmen is indeed a step in telling more of the dynamic and complex story of Indian Territory.

I am grateful also to those who did meet us half way across the bridge and whom we look forward to meeting in the future:

Dorothy Alexander, Poet & Publisher

Reuben Noah, (Choctaw)

Five Tribes Museum Staff

Mary Robinson, Executive Director

Five Civilized Tribes Museum

It should also be mentioned that we had the chance to meet artist and illustrator Jeanne Rorex. She is the author who illustrated the book by Tim Tingle, Crossing Bok Chitto and is known for her artwork the Sisters Series reflecting African-Native American families.

Angela Walton-Raji & artist Jeanne Rorex

Image from The Sisters Series

No culture is static. That which is static is extinct. 

The lessons learned have been profound. Now is the time to tell our stories!

Identity, Tradition and Preservation Discussed at Storytellers Conference

Bacone College Chapel was the site of the first  Five Tribes Story Conference which began yesterday in Muskogee Oklahoma. This event brought together an interesting combination of professors, storytellers and researchers. The opening Plenary was by Tim Tingle, (Choctaw) author of the book Crossing Bok Chitto.

Those attending the conference were literally from all over the country, from Maryland to California, Wisconsin, Texas, and many places in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Tim Tingle, author delivers plenary address. 

Author Tim Tingle, in the opening session, shared the origin of his storytelling experience, and how he came to develop the story of Crossing Bok Chitto, a story of African & Native friendship and freedom.

A number of panels were presented with interesting discussions about how each person found methods of depicting stories and acquiring stories to tell.

Panelists: Choogie Kingfisher (Cherokee)

Lorie Robbins (Chickasaw)  Peter Coser (Muscogee)  Phillip Harjo (Seminole)

Several discussions came from the panelists discussing a variety of issues of identity, and tradition, and most interestingly a discussion of how became professional storytellers in their adult years, particularly.  Some remarks reflected a tradition of native creation stories, and there were a number of references relationships with elders as story sources and resources.

History was often discussed, though not much discussion about the African presence in the tribe, many participants in private conversations were very much aware of this part of the Five Tribes history as well as culture.  An interesting point that I noticed was a frequent reference to historical research, which was critical to many as a resources for them as storytellers.

A greater need occurred to me, is the need for more stories to be told about those of African Ancestry---to tell our stories and to share our own perspective of what has happened to our own people, who played a strong influence on the history of the tribes---as participants in the history, the culture and in cases of Creek and Seminole histories---the politics of some of the tribes.

Our own stories of Cow Tom & Sugar George (Creeks) Abraham (Seminole), Dick Brashears (Choctaw) and Henry Kemp (Chickasaw) are among the many stories of Africans of Indian Territory that also need to be told.  Their names need to be heard again on the land where they lived and died.  The presence of Africans on the Trial of Tears deserves to be told---because we were there.  Hopefully we will have more than mere images of their headstones---but will come to appreciate them more as men and women who contributed to the places and communities where they lived.

Gravestone of Cow Tom, Creek Freedman

The best element of the conference was the chance to interact with old friends, meet new friends, and a new sense of devotion to telling our own historical stories.

Terry Ligon & Daniel Littlefield engage in

Thought provoking discussion at lunch

Members of Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Association

& History Daniel Littlefield

I most appreciated the chance to meet others and personally feel renewed, to return to the work that must be done.

Muscogee Creek Freedmen Ron Graham 

met Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen

Angela Walton-Raji, Joyce Shelton Settles, Terry Ligon

Author Sarah Elizabeth 

Yesterday's lectures reflected the need for all people to take their own history and culture seriously, to embrace their own history, and to tell their own stories.

African Ancestors Represented at Five Tribes Story Conference Reception

Terry Ligon & Angela Walton-Raji in front of

Special Freedmen Exhibit at Five Tribes Museum

I am currently attending the very first Five Tribes Story conference sponsored by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the Oklahoma Humanities Council, and Bacon College.  The conference has several hundred people in attendance, and members of the Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Association, and the new historical association, ITOFHA (Indian Territory and Oklahoma Freedmen Historical Association) are attending as well.

The Five Civilized Tribes museum contacted some of us to contribute to an exhibition for this historic event. Members of the association worked to share photos that told a greater story of Oklahoma Freedmen, and to see that their stories and their presence as part of Indian Territory history was included. A collection of 8 images including a montage of Freedmen from all Five Tribes was assembled and is now on display at the conference.

The display was also on hand the evening of the kick off reception for the conference held at the Museum on Thursday evening.  The images submitted were featured in one of the glass cases at the museum, and it was received very well by those who viewed the collection.  This is one of the first Freedmen History exhibits featured at an Oklahoma museum.

Part of the goals of the members of the Choctaw Freedmen Association and TOFHA is to research and publish the stories of the African-Native people.  So, not surpsingly, the first stop that I made, along with colleague Terry Ligon was to start documenting our events this weekend, as well. Terry, noted graphic artist and photographer immediately began capturing images of the weekend, including the history of the building of the museum, for it was at one time a Creek Freedmen school and orphanage.

Terry Ligon captures some of the history of

the museum site, which was at one time

a Creek Freedmen School

    

Five Civilized Tribes Museum, Muskogee Oklahoma

Once a Creek Freedman School & Orphanage

In addition to the special Freedmen exhibit were a series of paintings reflecting African-Native history in the museum gallery.  Choctaw storyteller Tom Tingle told a story of life and contact between Choctaw and those who were enslaved in their communities.  A book entitled  "Crossing Bok-Chito" was authored by Tom Tingle, and a rare story of African-Native contact is told.  Surprisingly the beautiful illustrations from the book were on display at the Museum in the gallery.  This story of slavery, of friendship and of freedom is a featured part of the weekend's conference.

I am preparing to go to the conference lectures this morning and look forward to hearing the presenters.

      

Coming to the Table - A Choctaw Reunion

 

Angela Walton-Raji and new friend and family contact,Colin Kelley

Angela descends from Choctaw Freedmen once owned by the Perry family. 
Colin is an enrolled Choctaw and descends from the Perry-Sexton family.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was a mild winter day in western Arkansas. Snow was melting from a surprise snowstorm that had come in two days earlier.  I was there preparing for a conference at the University of Arkansas in Ft. Smith and I was staying at the home of a good friend.  On that mild day---I was awaiting the arrival of a man from Oklahoma. He and a cousin were driving to meet me.  They were the descendants of the family that had once held my ancestors as slaves. My great grandmother Sallie Walton was born in 1863 in the Choctaw Nation, into the Perry family.

Sallie Walton, Choctaw Freedwoman

My gr. grandmother

Now this is not the first time that a descendant of a slave has met the descendant of a slave owner.  But this is probably one of the first times that this has taken place between a Native American slave owner descendant, and a descendant of Native American held slaves. And--what also made this story special is that they contacted me.

One day last summer, I got an email.  A gentleman living near Tulsa Oklahoma wrote to me.  He had seen my name mentioned briefly in the article in the Chronicle of Oklahoma. The man in Oklahoma decided to write to me, reaching out and he hoped, as he had said that I would reply.

Copy of email received in August 2009

He was a descendant of Nail Perry. Wow!!  Nail Perry was the son of Hardy Perry---and the Perry's were connected to my gr. grandmother Sallie, her mother Amanda,  and her grandmother Kitty.  I had several family documents on the family and the name Nail Perry was familiar to me---for he had been a spokesperson on several occasions for my family.

Over and over again---the name appeared--and it was Nail Perry. Nail Perry was a prominent man in his Choctaw community in and around Skullyville, and his word greatly influenced my family's enrollment and receipt of land allotments in what is now LeFlore County Oklahoma. Most importantly--Nail Perry also confirmed the tie that my family had to his family and that they were indeed slaves from the family.

Portion of Dawes Interview

Source: Choctaw Freedmen Application Jacket M1301

National Archives

* * * * * *

Slave Census of 1860 showing some of the Nail Perry's and some of the family, each one owning 1 slave

Source: National Archives  1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules

And now, here was Nail Perry's descendant writing to me directly. Wow!

After recovering quickly from my shock, I responded to this man--Mr. Colin Kelley and his own interest in history of both the family and the local area was just as  as strong as mine. I should mention that my close friends and I have documented a number of cemeteries in the LeFlore County Oklahoma area and my colleague Tonia Holleman and I have researched a number of the Freedmen families from the same community. And now here was a man who had lived in the very same community and who not only shared an interest in the local history---he was connected to my family--historically.

Over the next several weeks our exchanges were friendly, and he too expressed curiosity about our families and their relationship. If something occurred to him he would share it with me, and if an idea occurred to me, I would pass it to him. I told him about our cemetery projects and he said he would enjoy trying to locate some of the older ones for me. His kindness was genuine and it was appreciated.

When I made plans last fall, to attend a conference in western Arkansas in January,---close to the eastern Oklahoma where he lived and where my ancestors lived---I told him that I was coming, and that it would be nice if we had a chance to meet.  He agreed.

An unexpected snowfall hit the area that week, but by Thursday of that week---it had melted. So, Colin Kelley and his cousin Dick Perry, ventured into Van Buren Arkansas to meet me a descendant of one of the slaves once owned by their ancestor, Nail Perry.

When their car pulled up---a light rain was falling washing away the remaining snow---and Colin the gentleman who contacted me, came up the walk, materials in hand---some documents, and some of his own family photos. Behind him came a mild mannered soft spoken man--his cousin Dick Perry.

They entered the home of my friend Tonia's whose home I was staying in that week, and initial handshakes were made.  Realizing this moment was significant---I did remember to take a photo right away.

L-R  Angela Walton-Raji, Dick Perry, Tonia Holleman, Colin Kelly

(both Dick and Colin Kelly are enrolled Choctaws)

We retreated into Tonia's library, and began to chat.  I had to thank them both for traveling in the unpredictable Arkansas/Oklahoma weather, and then we got down to exchanging data.

He pulled out records, and so did I.  I had proceedings from the trial of ancestor Jackson Crow, and also records pertaining to other relatives. He had photos of his own family---clearly a blended family of Choctaws and he shared those wonderful images with me.

Ancestors of Colin Kelly

I admired his family photos I noted how some of his relatives resembled some of my own family.  I also shared a photo of my Uncle Joe, and both of them noted how Uncle Joe resembled a member of their family as well.

Mr. Gr.Uncle Joe Perry 

We talked about my ancestor who was put on trial at Judge Parker's Court, and we also discussed our thoughts on what may have happened in that case. In the court proceedings the same name appeared again---Nail Perry.  In that file, Nail Perry mentioned that the man on trial--Jackson Crow-- was also indirectly connected to him.  Crow's mother was Kitty, sometimes called "Old Kit".  Well Kitty was my Sallie's grandmother!  Kitty was the mother of Amanda (Sallie's mother.)

I had so many questions that day---and one being---where might Amanda, and Kitty be buried?  But that, they did not know.

Since that time though, we have occasionally spoken by phone, and we have emailed often, and as recently as this week, "Cousin Colin" has made calls on my behalf, inquiring about long forgotten black cemeteries in the area, and he might have gotten a lead to follow.

We now share the search to identify where Kitty, Amanda and gr. grandpa Samuel, might be buried.  I hope to visit the area again soon, and to have the privilege of his showing me the community where two abandoned African American cemeteries might be.

Simply said----that first meeting earlier this year was one in which we met as strangers, and departed as friends.

Angela & "Cousin Dick" Perry

I realized now, months later that sometimes when people meet, they learn that they have so much more in common than not. Colin and I still talk, and exchange email, and still weigh the possibilities of where other African American burial grounds might be in the old Choctaw community, near Howe, Heavener, & Hontubby. We discuss the community around the old Conser Road and Conser Home, and ponder the times as they were.

I read often about the need for healing, especially between slave owner descendants and descendants of the enslaved.  I am inspired by the efforts from the Coming to the Table program. But then---I pause and I realize-----how fortunate I am.

Out of the blue, I was contacted and brought to the table by a man who has since become my friend. I realize that our histories, our lives and our families intersected in the small Choctaw community in eastern Oklahoma.  For that I am grateful.

Perhaps we were blessed by the ancestors----Kitty (Old Kit) ---Nail Perry, Amanda, Jackson Crow , and my Sallie and so many more, whose names are not known.

I think that somehow they too now have come to the table, not as master-slave, but as friends and as family.

We came to the table, and we now walk along the same road.

Story of an Old Negro Settlement, on the Edge of Indian Territory

Negro Settlement 1885

Source: Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior, General Land Office, 1885

While looking at a number of old maps of Indian Territory recently, a good friend and colleague, author Art Burton pointed out an historic African American settlement on Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory maps. Now this is not unusual for Oklahoma's history especially since Oklahoma has had more all black towns than any other state in the country.   And about 8 of those towns still exist today. However, this section of the Territory was not one of those historically black  towns.

I looked at a map  and found that "Negro Settlement".  At first I assumed that this might have been a small group of people who were simply on route to another community, and then I began to look at additional maps over the next 20 years.

As early as 1879 the Negro Settlement began to appear on maps:

Source: U.S. General Land Office Indian Territory Pocket Map 1879

The settlement appeared again in 1887, northwest of Paul's Valley and appeared to be in, or near the Chickasaw Nation.  The actual community was in the southwestern corner of what would eventually become Cleveland county, Okahoma. So here, two years later, this community had no name, but was still reflected on local maps.

1887 Map reflecting Negro Settlement

Source: Chicago: Henry S. Stebbins, 1887; From Crams Universal Atlas of the World

Then, in 1889, came a more direct illustration of where this settlement was.  At the very end of the old Cheyenne Agency Road.

1889 Image of Negro Settlement

Source: Chicago: People's Publishing Co., 1889

 The presence of a cattle trail that ran southeast of the community suggests that this settlement might have been a place where some of the black cowboys may have encamped.

1891 the settlement was still present

Source: Chicago: George F. Cram, 1891

In 1893, there may have been a shift in the population, for the settlement was now reflected on historic maps as merely "huts".

"Huts"  described the community in 1893.

Source:Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1893; 

from Rand McNally and Company's Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers Guide

In 1901 the settlement was still there, and now also called, Negro Huts

1901 Map reflecting settlement as 

Negro Huts

BUT----Interestingly, by the time of statehood, they were gone.  No maps represented them, and this settlement that lasted more than 2 decades, was now gone without a trace. It never had a name, and nothing in the current Oklahoma local history represents the presence of this black community.  No name---just a reflection of a settlement. My questions is now----where would this settlement be today?

Current maps represent an area not far from the Canadian River, near the point where Walnut Creek flowed into the Canadian River. 

The settlement was below Noble Oklahoma and above Purcell, Oklahoma. It was a community to the east of what is now I-35.  And---it was at the very endpoint of the old Cheyenne Agency Road.  

The problem is today's maps do not reflect the old Cheyenne Agency Road. But thanks to Google Maps one can look at the same area from several perspectives.

1) Several maps reveal that the settlement was near a bend in the Canadian River.

2) The settlement was below Noble, and above what would be come Purcell, Oklahoma

3) There was also the diagonal road coming from a northeasterly direction---the old Cheyenne Agency Road

4) The settlement was also to the east of the river, and to the east of a railroad track that ran directly along the edge of the settlement.

So, using Google Maps I decided to see if I could find a place that met all of those conditions and zoom in .

I could see the bend in the Canadian River.

I could see the bend that was below what is now Noble Oklahoma, and yet above Purcell.

I could see the railroad via a satellite image, and see the area east of the railroad.  But---I could not see a road---at least not a current road

However aerial satellite images on that exact same image, do reflect a path of some sort---perhaps an old abandoned trail, coming diagonally from the Northeast that did stop at a point in the same vicinity.  The question whether this is the old Cheyenne Agency Trail comes to my mind.  And if so...........could this possibly the old Negro Settlement?

Studying the old maps again, the settlement was clearly southeast of Noble, but above Purcell.  It appeared to be near a bend in the Canadian River.  Today's maps reveal that the settlement was probably west of what is now Slaughterville Oklahoma and Noble.  

First, by using Google maps I zoomed  in on what might be near that same community.

Then I looked via satellite image also reflects this same area:

I noted on one of that 1889 maps that reflected a point at the end of the old Cheyenne Agency Road.

Could I find that road today coming from a 45 degree angle and ending at the settlement?  And if the road no longer exists is it now just an old abandoned trail? I decided to compare the old map with a satellite image of today.  I also noticed on the old maps there was a railroad that also ran alongside the settlment.  

I needed to find a point alongside the railroad where an old road or trail ended--coming from a 45 degree angle.  And it had to be someplace in or near the bend in the Canadian River, and above the town of Purcell.

So looking at an old map, next to a satellite image I studied more:

 1889 Map Showing Negro Settlement

 

Then I zoomed in on the same area, inside of the bend of the Canadian River, to the east of the railroad, and at what appears to be the end of a road or trail coming at a 45 degree angle:

The railroad is visible on the left. Two roads intersect--- Banner Road and Burkett Road  This area is south and west of Noble Oklahoma, and north and west of Purcell..  Right where the two roads intersect--one can see that the trial did continue a few yards, towards the railroad.  Could that possibly be the old Cheyenne Agency Trail?  If it is, then the old Negro settlement might have been right there.   On some of the maps it also appeared to be a stop of some sort for the railroad.

Looking more closely at the satellite image I zoomed in for a closer look:

Areal view of Burkette and Barnett Road.  

Source: Google Maps Satellite Image

Could this be near the old settlement?  

(Is the diagonal path on the landscape coming from the northeast a remnant

of the old Cheyenne Agency Road?)

Of course I cannot say with certainty that this is the site of the old settlement---but just in case it was, I wanted to have a look at the site.  

So with Google Street View, I decided to take a look and descended through the wonderful technology that exits, to see what was there. At the intersection of Burkett and Banner Road. One can see traces of an old road.  Is this possibly the end of the old Cheyenne Agency Road?

                  Looking North on Burkett Road at intersection 

of Burkett and Banner

About 100 feet from the same intersection on sees a small oil pump, and nothing else.

Oil well pumping on near Burkett and Banner Road in Pottawatomie County

between Noble and Purcell Oklahoma

Source: Google Street View Image

Did I really find the remains of the old Negro Settlement?  Who were the people who lived there for almost 30 years?  Where did they go?  What were their stories?

I have no way of really knowing. And unless a team of specialists in land topography, as well as archeologists explored the area, there would be no way of ever knowing the real answer of where the old settlement was.

However, I still appreciated exploring the landscape, with maps and images, and I found that the act of even just searching for remnants of the past, to be one that was humbling nevertheless. Somewhere in this vicinity I can say that there was a community of people of African descent that lived for almost  3 decades near the banks of the Canadian river. Though this was a community that was short lived, it was there, nevertheless.  

Who knows what stories came from that old settlement, and whatever happened to the people?  

I like to think that perhaps on warm Oklahoma summer evenings, when the wind blows softly, whispers of the ghosts of those long gone, tell their sweet secrets to the breeze and the trees.

Whatever happened to them, may they rest in peace, and may history still tell their story. I was compelled to write a small haiku about this long lost place.

The Old Settlement

Only maps show they were there.

Ghosts now tell the tales.

©Angela Y. Walton-Raji