I live in an area in the south where my community is full of Blacks with Indian blood. Most are Cherokee, I am Choctaw with a mixture of Indian blood. My father said that he would hear the adults talking when he was a child about people with Indian blood. Many were the result of Indians being raised by Black families.

In those days there were Indian wars. The Indians would take their babies into the woods and hide them in hollow trees. When Blacks went into the woods to cut down trees for the winter, they would find the babies and raise them as there own. The parents of the babies were killed by Whites that wanted this land for themselves.

The parents of those children knew that if they wanted their seeds to survive, they had a better chance with non-Indians. They did indeed survive.

One thing they did after growing up was not to mention their Indian heritage again. Instead they went as Mulatto. Then they would marry into Black families. The Indian blood has not yet been depleted because many of the people they married were mixed with Indian.

This is how the Indian survived in this area and how their heritage was hidden. Many elderly people today won't mention their Indian heritage unless they know you and feel secure about talking about it. Once they do, loads of information comes pouring out.