Podcast
On Being with Krista Tippett
This book tells the story of Doll, a black woman who had a relationship with a wealthy Cherokee man, Shoe Boots. The relationship was not a marriage in the modern sense, as Doll was owned by Shoe Boots and never formally freed, despite him advocating for his children with her.
Well, first I'd like to back up a bit and tell you how I came to the story. I was doing a dissertation research on black and native relations in the south.
— Episode: Tiya Miles — Toward Living Memory
Episode: Tiya Miles — Toward Living Memory
This book tells the story of Doll, a black woman who had a relationship with a wealthy Cherokee man, Shoe Boots. The relationship was not a marriage in the modern sense, as Doll was owned by Shoe Boots and never formally freed, despite him advocating for his children with her.
Well, first I'd like to back up a bit and tell you how I came to the story. I was doing a dissertation research on black and native relations in the south.
And it just so happened that after months of pouring through, especially secondary sources, I came across a footnote that said that a man named shoe boots married a black woman and this was the first black Cherokee marriage with in the Cherokee nation.
So that footnote really struck me to idea that there would be a marriage between a Cherokee man and a black woman that was recorded in the early 1800s. And he was a wealthy Cherokee man, right? I would say that in our terms he was middle class.
Okay, so he was he was solid financially, but he wasn't one of the wealthiest Cherokee slave holders who owned something like 20 or more slaves and some cases 100 or more slaves. He only had a handful of slaves. Only, I say.
So I wanted to investigate the story and find out what was going on. And as I began to investigate, I learned that footnote left out so much. And in my mind, this relationship was not what we would describe today as a marriage. This was a relationship between a grown man in his forties who went to South Carolina and either bought or treated for an adolescent black girl brought her back to the Cherokee nation and began to have children with her.
Doll was owned by a she boots, and he never freed her formally.
But it's so striking and painful about that is he's making a case for these children he's had by doll. And he basically says, I did based myself. Exactly. And head to these children and never the less than he's wanting them to be treated decently.
Episode: Tiya Miles — Toward Living Memory
This book delves into the complex relationship between a wealthy Cherokee man and an enslaved Black woman, challenging traditional understandings of marriage and slavery during the early 1800s. The author investigated a marriage recorded in the early 1800s and discovered that it was a relationship between a grown man and an adolescent Black girl who was never formally freed.
I was doing a dissertation research on black and native relations in the south. And I was looking for a story that I thought would help me to both understand and unravel the complexity of these relationships.
So that footnote really struck me to idea that there would be a marriage between a Cherokee man and a black woman that was recorded in the early 1800s.
This was a relationship between a grown man in his forties who went to South Carolina and either bought or treated for an adolescent black girl brought her back to the Cherokee nation and began to have children with her.
Doll was owned by a she boots, and he never freed her formally.
And he basically says, I did based myself. Exactly. And head to these children and never the less than he's wanting them to be treated decently.