Who knew?

[Dave Grubb]

This article from the NYT is open and available to everyone

The key difference in the fate of the two men was race — specifically, a small degree of what is known in the courts as “Indian blood.” Wilson, 44, is one sixty-fourth Creek Indian. Hill is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation through ancestors called Freedmen — Black people who were enslaved by Native tribes. Because Hill’s ancestors did not have Indian blood, he was found in court not to be Indian.

“He’s a member of the Cherokee Nation,” Phillip Peak, Hill’s lawyer, said in court arguments. “Yet when he steps in this courtroom, all of a sudden he’s not.”

Apparently the old "one drop" rule has a new name. This article is interesting in what it says about our legacy problems----many legally forced. It is a bucket of conundrums

The fact that Indians held slaves was just one revelation to me.

[Kevin]

I'm having trouble thinking of any ethnic group that at one time in history did NOT have slaves of some sort. I don't know about Asian/Pacific cultures, so I'm ignorant there. But warfare between groups often ended with the losers being enslaved.

Having that one drop unlocks a lot of advantages, so the irony is pretty interesting. If black, at one time that drop meant a host of bad things. Now, if Native American, that drop can mean a host of good things. Maybe we need to quit focusing on race altogether. If people need help, help them, special demographics or not.

[Truckman]

I'm having trouble thinking of any ethnic group that at one time in history did NOT have slaves of some sort. I don't know about Asian/Pacific cultures, so I'm ignorant there.

The Japanese were known to enslave Chinese, Koreans and Pacific Islanders right up to the middle of the 20th Century...Japanese and Chinese gangs continue to enslave people every day...In one sense of the word, the Kim family of hoodlums has enslaved an entire country for decades......Ben

[Dave Grubb]

The Chinese were enslaving people from the beginning of recorded history---as were the Egyptians.

As an interesting slant on the entire issue of slavery---intertribal slavery was common all over Africa long before the white man showed up ---in fact the primary source of the "goods" for the white slave traders was from Africans that would capture the "candidates" and bring them to the ports.

[UTAH]

We didn't enslave Japanese during WWII, but we did imprison them.

"None of the people of Japanese ancestry were ever convicted or even charged with sabotage or espionage, yet were confined, some up to four years, in camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
- Topaz Museum

https://topazmuseum.org/

Sadly, 2/3 of the nationwide 120,000 "relocated" Japanese were American citizens.

Went through Delta Utah several times to get in Nevada's backdoor. We now have a power plant there. Got interesting looks from the locals when in my Harley gear.

Hunter