page_title: Black Indians in the United States
section_title: Overview
hierarchical_section_title: Black Indians in the United States / Overview
caption_attribution_description: English: Buffalo soldiers of the 25th Infantry, some wearing buffalo robes, Ft. Keogh, Montana Italiano: "Buffalo soldiers" ("soldati bisonte", ossia afroamericani) del 25o Fanteria; alcuni indossano pelli di bisonte. Ft. Keogh, Montana.
context_page_description: Black Indians are Native American people — defined as Native American due to being affiliated with Native American communities and being culturally Native American – who also have significant African American heritage.
  Many Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, such as the Narragansett, Pequot, Wampanoag and Shinnecock, as well as people from the nations historically from the Southeast, such as Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee, have a significant degree of African and often European ancestry as well.
  Historically, certain Native American tribes have had close relations with African Americans, especially in regions where slavery was prevalent or where free people of color have historically resided. Members of the Five Civilized Tribes participated in holding enslaved African Americans in the Southeast and some enslaved or formerly enslaved people migrated with them to the West on the Trail of Tears in 1830 and later during the period of Indian Removal. In peace treaties with the US after the American Civil War, the slaveholding tribes, which had sided with the Confederacy, were required to emancipate slaves and give them full citizenship rights in their nations.
context_section_description: Until recently, historic relations between Native Americans and African Americans were relatively neglected in mainstream United States history studies. At various times, Africans had varying degrees of contact with Native Americans, although they did not live together in as great number as with Europeans. African slaves brought to the United States and their descendants have had a history of cultural exchange and intermarriage with Native Americans, as well as with other enslaved mixed-race persons who had some Native American and European ancestry. Most interaction took place in New England where contact was early and the Southern United States, where the largest number of African-descended people were enslaved. In the 21st century, a significant number of African Americans have some Native American ancestry, but most have not grown up within those cultures and do not have current social, cultural or linguistic ties to Native peoples.
  Relationships among different Native Americans, Africans, and African Americans have been varied and complex. Some tribes or bands were more accepting of ethnic Africans than others and welcomed them as full members of their respective cultures and communities. Native peoples often disagreed about the role of ethnic African people in their communities. Other Native Americans saw uses for slavery and did not oppose it for others. Some Native Americans and people of African descent fought alongside one another in armed struggles of resistance against U.S. expansion into Native territories, as in the Seminole Wars in Florida.
   
  After the American Civil War, some African Americans became or continued as members of the US Army. Many were assigned to fight against Native Americans in the wars in the Western frontier states. Their military units became known as the Buffalo Soldiers, a nickname given by Native Americans. Black Seminole men in particular were recruited from Indian Territory to work as Native American scouts for the Army.
caption: Buffalo Soldiers, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought.
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