Oklahoma Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes (Webinar)

[@siriUSMASKONEZ]

I have a question ,when the trail of tears took place in the 1830s,were there any people, who did not leave the south,and if so what happened to them?

[@jenniferrandall2579]

Hi! Great question. There were many non-removal Natives, especially in the southeast who survived mostly by assimilation. Some more so than others. The largest example of non-removal Natives is what is now known as the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. There are also instances of Natives creating communities with free people of color such as the Dimery Settlment in Horry County South Carolina, or with runaway enslaved people such as in Dismal Swamp, Virginia. There's a wonderful book on the subject called Surviving Genocide: Native Nations and the United States from the American Revolution to Bleeding Kansas by Jeffrey Olster. I hope this helps! Jennifer @ IAAM.