|
There was a
strong connection between the Scots in early America and the
Native Americans. We are beginning our research with the
five civilized tribes listed above, but will expand to other
tribes as our information becomes available.
Some say that it was in fighting that their love and mutual
respect was discovered. Indeed, among the earliest
professions listed by the Scottish in early America was
"Indian fighter". Yet, many Scots fought
equally hard to try and prevent the abuse and destruction of
the Native American way of life.
That there was an
positive interaction between the Native American Indian tribes
and the earliest of the Scots and Scot-Irish immigrant settlers
is beyond question. The thought process, however, leads one to
wonder why this special bond between the two widely disparate
groups was so successful and, seemingly, universal throughout
the North American continent. There is no other link between the
indigenous tribes and any other immigrant stream that resulted
in the amazing amalgamation that was the product of the Scot -
American Indian association. Was it the mutuality of the outcast
that brought them into this situation? If the truth be told, it
is apparent that the wealthy Scot and Scot-Irish landholder had
no more use for the native Americans than did the British, the
Dutch, the French or the Spanish of means. It was those on the
fringes of society and civilization that made the leap of faith
to become aware of the similarities of faith, feeling, history
and community that made the match a natural winner. But the
roots of that success lie deep within the ancient history of the
Celts, who were the stock from which the Scot and Irish tribes
drew their culture.
Scotland's
immigration population of the 17th and 18th century is a hearty
mixture of Pict, Viking, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Celt and those who
were first, "the ancient ones", the indigenous early
settlers of the Islands. Obviously, the westward migration of
the earliest Germanic and Celtic tribes from the Caucasus and
Eastern European areas had the effect of forcing the earlier
inhabitants further to the West. There are sites of communities
that predate Stonehenge all along the Northern and Western
coastline of Scotland and Eastern coast of Ireland, indicating
that there were existing infrastructures in place long before
the first of the recognized Scottish tribal groups came into
power and began the trade patterns with Northern and Western
Europe that were to sow the seeds of further incursions into the
mainland cultures that established the foundations of the
Highland and Island Clan structure that was so uniquely
Scottish.
|
|
Special thanks to
Anita Davis for inspiring this new section of the website.
She wrote:
"The connection between the Scots and the Native
Americans (especially here in Texas) is an important one, and it
would be good to make this information part of the site. The
Scots and the Native Americans - especially the Five Civilized
Tribes (which includes Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek &
Seminole) had a great deal in common including the Clan system
and their unique concepts of family and community, so it is no
wonder that they mixed so well."
-
Anita Atsila Galisgisgia Davis
Clan Mother/ Bird Clan of the Cherokee People in Texas
Southern Cherokee and Associated Bands in Texas
|
|
Many Choctaw escaped from the
Trail of Tears and found refuge in Texas. Among those a
good many intermarried with the Scots and Irish. Too
often the stories were hidden, in an effort to protect
themselves. We are searching for these stories in
earnest and hope to preserve them for all our children to
come.
My own
great-grandmother, Matilda
Goynes, was one of those who
escaped from the Trail of Tears and came to Texas as a young girl.
Forced to leave their homes in Mississippi, they made a life
for themselves in the Piney Woods of east Texas.
For many years, she inhabited a grave in Trinity marked only
by an old cedar tree. Her story will be told in the
hopes that others will also search out and share the stories
of their own ancestors. Please check back for more...
|
|
A
Dance called America and
Glencoe and the Indians two books by James
Hunter.
"A new dance was devised in the Isle of
Skye in the eighteenth century. An exhilarating
dance. A dance, one visitory reports, which 'the
emigration from Skye has occasioned'. The visitor asks
for the dance's name, 'They call it America,' he
is told" The third book in the series is soon to be
released - we'll let you know!!
|
