Black American Indians
How do African-Native Americans keep their dual identity alive?
A - Black Indians of Wampanoag
The Black Indians of Wampanoag are people of African-American descent with significant Native American ancestry. They are struggling to be formally acknowledged as African-Native Americans.
B - A Common Memory
C - Intertwining of Cultures
During the 1740s and 1750s, many African slaves escaped from the slave hunters. They fled to the bayous of Louisiana where they met Native Americans who hid them or took them in. Both minorities helped each other. Nowadays to celebrate this friendship, around forty "tribes" parade every year in March in New Orleans during Mardi Gras . Each "tribe" creates new costumes with bright feathers and colourful beads. The marchers are mostly African-Americans including African-Native Americans.
I treasure my very background, but my parents' ethnicity does not define who I am. I am always African American and the child of the American culture. I blend all of these things. But ultimately, I am Radmilla. Radmilla A. Cody, American Navajo model, singer and activist.