Waterbury Democrat., 1902-07-18
RICH CREEK NEGROES.

The richest community Of negroes
 in the United States live in Indian territory. There are 1000 of them,
 and they are worth on an average of l $3, 1000 each. The wealth of the more
 industrious foots up even higher, cer- tain individuals being the owners of each.
 | These negroes are the descendants of slaves of the Creek tribe of Indians, and are known as Greek negroes. They
 are entitled to a share in the division of Creek Indian lands, also part of the trust funds. Together the 1000 negroes own 22,OOO,000 acres of land. And yet their education is far from complete. Their social environments are crude in the extreme, and progress goes slowly among their huts and fields.
 Unlike the other Indians of the rich five civilized tribes, the Creeks insisted upon freeing their slaves and giving them an equal share in their lands and money. At that time there were few slaves, but the number grew through descendants, until now fully 1000 have laid successful claim to Q "head right" on the Creek rolls of citizenship. They have their own representative in the Creek Indian legislature, their own schools and their own churches. Ev- erything bids fair to make them the model community of the negroes in the United States when Indian terri tory is recovered from the tangled wilderness of reconstruction, its laws made uniform and itself state of the union.
 There is little culture among the Creek negroes. They have a social set all their own, to which not even the Indians are invited. Their char acteristics are in a great measure diff ferent from the negro of the south or the north. It is a mixture of both with additional peculiarities.
 Like the Indians, these negroes have their dances in the open, which have come to be sort of religion with them. And, following in the foot steps of the southern negro, they have barbecues, 'possum hunts and the like As northern type of the negro they are more industrious and independent of the whites, know how to work hard and save their money, and, like the type from the city, are we'll dressed sgaudily, but at the same time wearing expensive clothes.
 These 1000 Creek negroes live in a tract of rich land called the Canadian river bottoms, and Okmulgee is their town and trading point. Okmulgee is the capital of the Creek Indian na- tion. and has been for years a negro town. Recently, however, white peo- pie fiocked in and have taken posses sion. The negroes are starting their own towns along the branch of the Frisco railroad.
 Notwithstanding that many of these Creek negroes are industrious, there are some among them who rent out their estates and lounge in idleness about the railroad stations. It is common sight to see a 5OO-acre tract of rich land in the Canadian bottoms being titled by a white man. Invari- ably, upon inquiry as to his landlord, he will refer to the negro owner in no complimentary terms. Meanwhile one will find the owner shooting craps or enjoying himself eating turken and 'possum in neighboring village.
 When the Greeks freed their negroes in 1864 the two fraternized for time, and even intermarried, but all that has passed now. Tn accordance with the terms granting their freedom the Creek negroes are allowed a voice in the tribal government, and so they have their own members in the coun- cil, have their own schools and all that, but the Creek Indian feels above the Creek negro and refuses to associate with him.--New York Tribune.