Recently discovered Mayan Slaves ship On CNN Just click link to view
Page 25 British Honduras to Belize Transformation of a Nation
Indian slaves were recognized as property in all the English colonies, and were openly bought and sold at both public and private sales like negroes and other property.1 They were advertised in the colonial newspapers with statements of their qualifications and ability for work, their ages, and sometimes descriptions of their personal appearance. From the New England newspapers it is apparent that for a time dealers advertised such slaves for sale openly in their own names.2 Later the possible purchaser was directed by the advertisement to “inquire of the Printer and know further”, or to “inquire at the Post Office”.3 It was not uncommon for slaves offered for sale to choose their future owner from those who desired to purchase them,4 or to approve the bill of sale.5
As C. Vann Woodward noted, the slave narratives "invite attention to a relatively unexplored field of race relations?those between Negroes and Indians." Though Woodward's comment is thirty years old, further exploration of the antebellum interactions between indigenous populations and African Americans remains to be done. The frequency of the ex-slaves' claims of American Indian lineage prompted interviewer Bernice Bowden to remark, "I have never talked to a Negro who did not claim to be part Indian."
FIRST TRIBE