Though they have never appeared in a school text, Hollywood movie or a TV show of the Old West, Black Indians were there as sure as Sitting Bull, Davy Crockett and Geronimo. Their story began at the time of Columbus, ranged from North American forests to South American jungles, and the jewel-like islands of the Caribbean.

The first freedom paths taken by runaway slaves led to Native American villages. There black men and women found a red hand of friendship and an accepting adoption system and culture. The sturdy offspring of Black-Indian marriages shaped the early days of the fur trade, added a new dimension to frontier diplomacy, and made a daring contribution to the fight for American liberty. Early Florida history was determined by a powerfull alliance that fought the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines to a standstill for forty years.

Like other intrepid frontier people, these dark Americans braved every peril for a slice of the American Dream—freedom, a safe home, family happiness and a piece of one's own land. In the chronicles of the Americas their long, arduous quest for freedom is still a neglected chapter.

Through careful research and rare antique prints and photographs, this book reveals how black and red people learned to live and work together in the Americas to oppose white oppression. Here is an American story that reveals a little-known aspect of our past and shatters some myths.

Review
"In his classic Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage, Katz reveals the dramatic story of thousands of African Americans who joined Native Americans and for more than five hundred years fought the march of European civilization. The Black Seminoles of Florida fought the United States Army, Navy and Marines to a standstill for 42 years before migrating to the Oklahoma Indian Territory. The Black Scholar said this book "offers new insights into black history and adds this dimension to the frontier cast of characters," and Alice Walker called it "a guide to the real America . . . usable, nearly lost, invaluable history." Black Indians many rare, antique engravings and photographs help prove the author's leading points."
— Black Child Magazine, February/March 1997