Life and Culture of the Estelusti

It is significant to know that the Freedmen of Indian Territory were a unique people with a unique lifestyle and culture. Most of the Freedmen were bilingual, although many did speak little or no English and only the language of their Indian slavemasters. The Oklahoma Slave Narratives contain many references to their culture and lifestyle, illustrating how immersed they were in the Native way of life.

The principal leaders were mixed bloods and were the majority of persons who owned slaves. There were close associations with full bloods in many of the nations. This was especially the case in the Creek and Seminole nations, and to a lesser the degree, in the Cherokee Nation. The Choctaw and Chickasaw had few associations with their slaves in terms of forming lasting personal relationships. However many Choctaw men did father children by African slave women. The Choctaw Freedmen, and Chickasaw Freedmen, did, nevertheless, speak the language with fluency, and prepare foods, and practice the same customs.

For glimpses into their lives, the Slave Narratives of the following persons will give a full account of their lives in Indian Nations. These narratives are part of the WPA Slave Narratives taken in the 1930's. Many of the Freedmen narratives were not published in the first series. In 1996 the University of Oklahoma Press, re-issued the slave narratives, in the book Oklahoma WPA Slave Narratives and included among the dozens of narratives, were 29 narratives of the Estelusti.