The intertwined processes of enslavement and Indigenous displacement wrought separation and heartbreak for many African American and Native American families. The artifacts displayed here represent that heartbreak, but they also highlight how Black and Native families resisted forced separation and persisted in their love for one another from a distance. This display weaves stories of loss, love, and remembrance through the efforts of a formerly enslaved father to purchase his enslaved children’s freedom, a Chippewa (Ojibwe) widow’s embrace of her deceased husband’s belongings, a list of Dakota children’s Indigenous names alongside English names imposed by white colonizers, and Native students’ art and writing. Where do you see love and dignity documented in your own family’s history?
Family Secrets: Uncovering Identity in 19th c. America
History 195 (Fall 2022)
