The summer months are a popular time to host family reunions, gatherings where relatives can meet new young family members, share memories with old ones and learn stories of their family’s past. Somewhere within these historic tales, the subject of slavery inevitably emerges. Many listeners may expect their family’s story to include caucasian slave masters, but some African-Americans are discovering a much different truth.
Owning slaves
Indianapolis resident Denise Chisley developed an interest in genealogy nearly seven years ago, after her mother gave her a photo of her great-great-grandmother, Catherine Hazeur. The photo showed a woman draped in a silk dress, wearing gold earrings and possessing distinct French-like features, very different from anyone in Chisley’s current family. In addition, Chisley was given Hazeur’s wedding invitation, which was written in French. Soon after, Chisley’s mother revealed her family was not owned by slaves but, rather, owned a few of their own.
“When my mother said it, it made me think, ‘Is this really true?’” said Chisley.
Born in New Orleans, Chisley knew her family was quite different from others outside the area, but she truly discovered that difference once she traveled to Indiana for college.
“Growing up, I knew all of my relatives had French last names,” she said. “I heard my mom mention the word ‘Creole,’ and I knew we lived in what we called a ‘Creole culture.’ Growing up in a smaller community, everyone knew one another and we ate meals like jambalaya, red beans and rice and other traditional New Orleans foods.”
After overcoming her initial surprise, Chisley set out to find the truth. In New Orleans, she discovered a will, transcribed in both English and French, of her fourth great-grandfather. The will, which dates back to 1829, states her late relative wanted to sell his plantation to his three “mulatto” sons. Another document stated he sold 10 slaves to his sons. From these documents, she found the family was very wealthy. In the 1850s, Chisley’s family lived in a $4,000 home.
“Knowing my family owned slaves as a Black person really shocked me and got to my core. I had to stop and take it all in. But I was happy to know land was passed on to other family members to help set them up for wealth,” she said.
Since learning this information, Chisley said she has a stronger sense of identity. By using the AncestryDNA test on ancestry.com, she found her recently discovered family roots matched her test results. Chisley shared with the Recorder that she is 50 percent European, 48 percent African and 2 percent Native American. While she said this was a shock, she was aware of having French bloodlines on both sides of her family.
Two years after Chisley learned about her great-great-grandmother, her mother passed away. Chisley said she wishes she had inquired about her family history earlier, but is thankful she asked her mother to write down much of the information she knew.
“It’s great to know what your family did, how they struggled and how I grew to became the person I am today,” she said. “My whole makeup traces back to them. It was awakening for me. Keep telling your story, tell your children and grandchildren, because it will go on for generations.”
Owned by Indians
In earlier years, there were several stories of Black slaves attempting to escape from their white slave masters, but Carretha Hale, who began digging up her family’s roots nearly 29 years ago, learned a little-known family history fact.
“My great-grandmother passed, and when going through her belongings I found a piece of paper that mentioned the Creek (Native American) tribe. I’d heard stories that the family were ‘with the Indians,’ but I never paid it any attention. When I saw this document, I wanted to learn more,” said Hale.
From that moment, she began reading history books on Oklahoma, where much of her family is from, and learned the area was Indian Territory. As the only family member born out of the Indian Territory, which was reduced to what is now Oklahoma, she naturally became curious about where she came from.
“I found the Native Americans of the Five Civilized Tribes — Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee and Seminole — had slaves, mostly because they were of mixed blood,” she said. “These mixed-bloods adopted the Southern way of economically staying afloat. They had slaves and grew cotton. Once I found that out, it all made sense that my family were slaves to Indians.”
In past conversations, when Hale would ask her grandmother about where their family came from, she would reply, “We were with the Indians.”
A DNA test later revealed Hale’s ethnicity. The test found she is 73 percent African, 22 percent European and 5 percent Native American. Despite her family discovery, Hale said she identifies more with her African heritage.
While Hale said her mother wasn’t interested in the family story, her grandmother and great-grandmother continued to share family stories with her. Currently she is hoping one of her four children will develop an interest in the family history so the stories can continue to be told.
Because of her findings, Hale was inspired to write a book on her family discoveries in 2015 titled From Slavery to Statehood: A Family History in the Creek Nation.
“The research never stops,” said Hale, who has used the internet, public libraries, health departments, historical societies and other resources to study her family’s history. “This has caused me to become a genealogist, as I wanted to learn how to find my family roots, and I recommend others do so as well.”
