The history of slavery in North America is broader and more complex than it is often presented. Canada is
frequently remembered as a place of refuge for Black people escaping slavery through the Underground
Railroad. However, slavery also existed for more than 200 years in the French and British colonies that
eventually became Canada.
The historical record also shows that some Indigenous societies practised forms of captivity before and
after European contact. In the southern United States, some members of several Indigenous nations later
participated in the racialized chattel enslavement of people of African descent.
These histories must be acknowledged carefully. Indigenous nations were—and remain—distinct peoples
with different governments, cultures and historical experiences. The actions of particular nations, leaders or
individuals should never be attributed to all Indigenous peoples.
Slavery in the Lands That Became Canada
Black and Indigenous people were enslaved in the territories that became Canada.
Parks Canada records that more than 4,000 people of African descent were enslaved between
approximately 1629 and 1834 in the French and British colonies that became Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
One of the earliest documented Black people enslaved in New France was Olivier Le Jeune. He arrived as a
young child from Africa in the seventeenth century and was enslaved in Quebec.
Black people in colonial Canada were treated as property. They could be bought, sold, inherited, separated
from their families and forced to work without freedom or compensation. Their labour benefited
merchants, government officials, military officers, religious institutions and other members of colonial
society.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights explains that some Indigenous societies had traditions of taking
captives during warfare before Europeans arrived. Depending on the nation, time and circumstances,
captives might be adopted into families, exchanged, required to work or subjected to violence.
These practices were not uniform, and they were not always equivalent to the racialized, hereditary system
of European chattel slavery. Under colonial chattel slavery, enslaved people were legally classified as
property, and their enslaved status could be passed from a mother to her children.
European colonization expanded, commercialized and racialized systems of enslavement throughout North
America.
Were Black People Enslaved by Indigenous Nations?
The strongest documented evidence of Indigenous participation in the chattel enslavement of Black people
comes primarily from the southern United States and Indian Territory, rather than from the lands that
became Canada.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, some citizens of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw,
Muscogee—or Creek—and Seminole Nations held people of African descent in slavery.
These nations are sometimes referred to collectively in older historical sources as the “Five Civilized Tribes,”
although that colonial term is now widely considered outdated and inappropriate.
Some wealthy and politically influential citizens of these nations established farms and plantations that
depended on enslaved Black labour. Some Indigenous governments also adopted laws that restricted the
movement, education, property ownership and political rights of Black people.
The Smithsonian Institution describes this history as an important but frequently overlooked part of slavery
in the American South. Historian Barbara Krauthamer’s research documents the experiences of Black
people enslaved by Choctaw and Chickasaw slaveholders and examines their struggles for emancipation
and citizenship.
It is important to distinguish between individual participation and collective responsibility. Not every citizen
of these nations owned enslaved people, and Indigenous people did not create the transatlantic slave trade
or the European colonial system of racialized chattel slavery.
Nevertheless, the participation of some Indigenous leaders, citizens and governments in Black enslavement
is a documented historical reality and should not be erased.
Removal and the Expansion of Slavery
During the nineteenth century, the United States forcibly removed the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw,
Muscogee and Seminole peoples from their homelands in the southeastern United States to Indian
Territory, in what is now Oklahoma.
This forced displacement is most commonly associated with the Trail of Tears.
Some Indigenous slaveholders took enslaved Black men, women and children with them during removal.
Black people therefore experienced the violence of forced migration while also remaining enslaved by some
of the people who were themselves being dispossessed by the United States government.
This history demonstrates that oppression can operate in overlapping ways. Indigenous peoples suffered
forced removal, land theft, broken treaties, violence and colonization. At the same time, some Indigenous
individuals and governments participated in the enslavement and racial subordination of Black people.
Acknowledging one injustice does not require denying another.
Black Seminoles and Black-Indigenous Alliances
Relations between Black and Indigenous peoples were not defined only by enslavement.
In Florida, some Black people who escaped slavery established communities near or among Seminole
people. These communities became known as Black Seminoles. They developed military, political, economic
and family relationships with Seminole communities.
Black Seminoles fought alongside Seminole people against removal and re-enslavement. Their history
illustrates the alliances, shared resistance and family relationships that also developed between Black and
Indigenous peoples.
Across North America, Black and Indigenous communities have histories of cooperation, intermarriage,
cultural exchange and collective resistance, as well as histories of conflict, exclusion and enslavement.
The full history includes all of these experiences.
Emancipation and the Freedmen
Slavery in the United States was formally abolished through the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
Following the American Civil War, the United States entered treaties with the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw,
Muscogee and Seminole Nations in 1866. These treaties required the abolition of slavery and addressed the
status of formerly enslaved Black people and their descendants.
Those formerly enslaved people became known as Freedmen.
However, freedom did not automatically bring equality. Freedmen and their descendants continued to face
discrimination and disputes over citizenship, voting, land ownership and membership within the nations
where they and their families had lived.
Questions concerning the citizenship rights of Freedmen descendants remain significant in some
Indigenous nations today.
Emancipation in Canada
The British Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. It came into force on August 1, 1834, ending
legal slavery across most of the British Empire, including the colonies that became Canada.
Emancipation did not erase the social, economic and political consequences of slavery. Black communities
continued to face segregation, discrimination, exclusion from employment and education, racial violence
and unequal access to land and economic opportunity.
In 2021, the House of Commons officially recognized August 1 as Emancipation Day in Canada.
Emancipation Day encourages Canadians to remember not only Canada’s role as a destination for freedom
seekers, but also its own participation in slavery and the continuing consequences of anti-Black racism.
Why This History Matters
The purpose of examining this history is not to create division between Black and Indigenous communities.
Both communities have endured colonial violence, displacement, discrimination and attempts to erase their
histories. At the same time, meaningful solidarity must be built on historical truth rather than selective
memory.
We can recognize that European colonial governments established and expanded systems of racialized
chattel slavery while also acknowledging that some Indigenous individuals and nations participated in
those systems.
We can acknowledge the enslavement of Black people by some Indigenous slaveholders while also
recognizing that Indigenous peoples experienced enslavement, forced removal, land theft, residential
schools and colonial oppression.
These truths do not cancel one another.
A mature understanding of history allows us to hold multiple truths at the same time, honour the people
who resisted oppression and build stronger relationships based on knowledge, honesty and mutual
respect.
A Note on Terminology and Responsibility
Indigenous peoples are not one single group. North America is home to hundreds of distinct First Nations,
Inuit, Métis and Native American nations, each with its own history, government and traditions.
It is therefore inaccurate to state broadly that “Indigenous people enslaved Black people” without
identifying the specific nation, geographical area and historical period being discussed.
A more accurate statement is:
In the southern United States and Indian Territory, some citizens and governments of the
Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee and Seminole Nations participated in the chattel
enslavement of people of African descent. In the lands that became Canada, Black and
Indigenous people were enslaved within French and British colonial systems, while some pre-
colonial Indigenous societies also practised distinct forms of wartime captivity.
Historical truth should be presented without generalization, collective blame or the erasure of any
community’s experiences.
Reliable Historical Resources
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
The Story of Black Slavery in Canadian History
This resource explains that slavery existed in Canada for more than 200 years. It also distinguishes some
Indigenous practices of taking war captives from the European system of racialized chattel slavery.
Parks Canada
The Enslavement of African People in Canada, approximately 1629–1834
This official Government of Canada historical designation documents the enslavement of more than 4,000
people of African descent in the French and British colonies that became parts of Canada.
Olivier Le Jeune National Historic Person
This page documents the life of one of the earliest known Black people enslaved in New France.
Celebrations of Emancipation Day National Historic Event
This resource explains the significance of August 1, 1834, and the long history of Emancipation Day
commemorations in Canada.
Smithsonian Institution
Black Slaves, Indian Masters: Slavery, Emancipation, and Citizenship in the Native American South
This Smithsonian resource identifies historian Barbara Krauthamer’s major study of Black people enslaved
by Native American slaveholders, especially among the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations.
United States National Park Service
Enslavement and Abolition
This collection provides historical information about chattel slavery, resistance, emancipation and the
legacy of slavery in the United States.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
From Slavery to Freedom
This Smithsonian museum resource provides broader historical context about African enslavement,
resistance, freedom and the lasting influence of slavery in North America.
Phone: +1-888-973-8403
Email: info@bmbcc.ca
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