#afro-native

American Red and Black: Stories of Afro-Native Identity

The film follows its protagonist Vella, as she makes tentative forays into the Native American portion of her lineage.  This process leads her to consider a more expanded racial identity, despite the fact she has always thought of herself as an African American or Black woman.

 Vella's saga is interspersed with the stories and/or opinions of five other individuals: Tall Oak, Rick, Minty, Jolene and Sequoyah- all of whom possess strong multicultural identities.

Oscar Pettiford (Cherokee, Choctaw, African American)

NPR Jazz Profiles - Oscar Pettiford: Bass Beyond Bop 

January 30, 2008

One of the giants of the double bass, Oscar Pettiford was known for his fine tone, the clarity of his attack, and the melody of his line. A successor to Jimmy Blanton and a contemporary of Red Callender and Charles Mingus, Pettiford was among the most sought-after musicians in jazz. During his short life, Pettiford distinguished himself as a performer, composer, and bandleader.

Born in 1922 on an Indian reservation in Okmulgee, Okla., Pettiford grew up around music — his father headed the family band, and his mother played the piano and taught music. Even at a young age, "OP," as he was called by friends, was a talent to be reckoned with. By age 10, Pettiford was singing in front of the family band. By 14, he was playing the bass, and his burgeoning skill would soon change the way the bass was heard and played.

During the early '40s, Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington's nimble bassist, was redefining the role of the bass in jazz. Blanton and fellow bassist Milt Hinton were both major influences on Pettiford. Once, while living in Minneapolis, Pettiford quit the bass for a steady job, but Hinton convinced him to stay with it. Just months later, he was hired by saxophone-playing bandleader Charlie Barnet. [READ MORE]

Circe Sturm takes a bold and original approach to one of the most highly charged and important issues in the United States today: race and national identity. Focusing on the Oklahoma Cherokee, she examines how Cherokee identity is socially and politically constructed, and how that process is embedded in ideas of blood, color, and race. Not quite a century ago, blood degree varied among Cherokee citizens from full blood to 1/256, but today the range is far greater--from full blood to 1/2048. This trend raises questions about the symbolic significance of blood and the degree to which blood connections can stretch and still carry a sense of legitimacy. It also raises questions about how much racial blending can occur before Cherokees cease to be identified as a distinct people and what danger is posed to Cherokee sovereignty if the federal government continues to identify Cherokees and other Native Americans on a racial basis. Combining contemporary ethnography and ethnohistory, Sturm's sophisticated and insightful analysis probes the intersection of race and national identity, the process of nation formation, and the dangers in linking racial and national identities.

The "IndiVisible: African- Native American Lives in the Americas" symposium at the National Museum of the American Indian on Friday, November 13, 2009. Video made available through the Smithsonian.