Indian slavery

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Indian slavery was the practice of using indigenous peoples of the Americas as slaves, which existed with the Spanish from the earliest days on the Caribbean islands they first settled. One of the first localities for intensive use of slaves was the gold mines of Hispaniola. This resulted in the extermination of Native Americans on most of the islands. A very few mixed-blood survivors remain, especially on Jamaica, and are called Maroons as do some mixed blood survivors of the Arawak on Cuba. Some Carib survive on Dominica. In Brazil slavery was already part of the native population traditions. Indians would enslave other indians, captured from rival tribes, and would often eat their slaves after some time. After the arrival of the Portuguese, the indians started to trade their prisoners, instead of using them as slaves or food, in exchange for goods. But the enslavement of europeans could also occur as happened with Hans Staden who, after being set free, wrote a book about the habits of the native indians.

Indian slavery was also practiced by the English in the Carolinas who sold Native American captives into slavery on the English plantations in the Caribbean. One of the first tribes that specialized in slave raids and trade with Carolina was the Westo, followed by many others including the Yamasee, Chickasaw, and Creek. Historian Alan Gallay estimates the number of Indians in southeast America sold in the British slave trade from 1670-1715 as between 24,000 and 51,000. He also notes that during this period more slaves (Indian, African, or otherwise) were exported from Charles Town than imported.

Many Native American tribes did enslave small numbers of captives and in the southwestern United States a few of them were sold to local Hispanic residents. In at least one instance in the San Luis Valley of Colorado a female household slave continued in her status long after the Emancipation Proclamation.^{[citation needed]}

Slavery of Indians was organized in colonial and Mexican California through Franciscan missions, theoretical entitled to ten years of Native labor, but in practice maintaining them in perpetual servitude, until their charge was revoked in the mid-1830s. Following the 1848 American invasion, Native Californians were enslaved in the new state from statehood in 1850 to 1867.^[1] Slavery required the posting of a bond by the slave holder and enslavement occurred through raids and a four-month servitude imposed as a punishment for Indian "vagrancy".^[2]

[edit] References

Gallay, Alan. "Forgotten Story of Indian Slavery" (2003).
Gallay, Alan. The Indian Slave Trade (2002).
Brown, Harry J. Hans Staden Among the Tupinambas

^ Castillo, Edward D. (1998). Short Overview of California Indian History", California Native American Heritage Commission.
^ Beasley, Delilah L. (1918). "Slavery in California," The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 3, No. 1. (Jan.), pp. 33-44.