Oral histories sought on Hispanic links to Indigenous enslavement
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Taos Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico. Photo: Robert Alexander/Getty Images
A new project is seeking oral histories of Indigenous and Hispanic descendants of enslavement in the American Southwest — a largely untold and overlooked chapter in American history.
Why it matters: Historians in recent years have been uncovering new stories around enslavement — from the Underground Railroad to Mexico to the lives of people held enslaved by the Founding Fathers — and investigations into Indigenous enslavement are attracting international attention.
Background: Indigenous slavery co-existed with African slavery from the 16th up to the late 19th century, Andrés Reséndez wrote in "The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America."
- He estimates that 2.5 million to 5 million Indigenous people were enslaved from the time of Columbus to the end of the 19th century.
- Apache members were enslaved in the American Southwest and sold to work in mines in Mexico. Latter-day Saints settlers in Utah purchased enslaved Native Americans and converted them.
Zoom in: An initiative by Native Bound-Unbound, an international digital archival project documenting Indigenous enslavement, is holding a series of public forums in northern New Mexico, from Saturday into August.
- The forums will collect oral histories from Hispanic and Indigenous residents who can shed light on how stories of enslavement were passed down, Estevan Rael-Gálvez, a descendant and the creator of Native Bound-Unbound, tells Axios.
- "People are going to be shocked ... memories or stories are incredibly important to this project."
- Rael-Gálvez says the archives can only tell part of the story, so collecting oral histories will fill in the gaps and hopefully encourage others to research their own family histories.
- The project has already collected 30 stories and is partnering with StoryCorps, the public radio initiative that collects family stories.
The intrigue: Rael-Gálvez says many Hispanics who can trace their families' histories back multiple generations in the present-day United States have Indigenous ancestors who were enslaved.
What we're watching: About 70 scholars from across the Americas are gathering documents and stories for the project, and Native Bound-Unbound will periodically release findings and new stories.
- Researchers are also looking into historical sites linked to Indigenous enslavement.
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