What is Black Seminoles?
{{nosources|date=May 2023}} The '''Black Seminoles''' or '''Afro-Seminoles''' are [[Black people|black]] Indians associated with the [[Seminole]] people in [[Florida]] and [[Oklahoma]]. They are mostly blood descendants of the Seminole people, free blacks and of escaped [[slave]]s (called [[Maroon (people)|maroons]]) who allied with Seminole groups in [[Spanish Florida]]. Many have Seminole lineage, but due to the stigma of having dark skin, they all have been categorized as slaves or [[freedmen]]. Historically, the Black Seminoles lived mostly in distinct bands near the Native American Seminole. Some were held as slaves, particularly of Seminole leaders, but the Black Seminole had more freedom than did slaves held by whites in the South and by other Native American tribes, including the right to bear arms. Today, Black Seminole descendants live primarily in [[rural]] communities around the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Its two Freedmen's bands, the Caesar Bruner Band and the Dosar Barkus Band, are represented on the General Council of the Nation. Other centers are in Florida, [[Texas]], the [[Bahamas]], and northern [[Mexico]]. {{African American topics}} {{us-stub}} [[Category:Ethnic groups in the United States]] [[Category:African-American people]] [[Category:Native Americans]]