86 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No 419 



of some Indians who were alarmed at a negro whom they 

 met in the depths of the forest, and " were worse scared 

 than hurt, who seeing a blackamore in the top of a tree, 

 looking out for his way which he had lost, surmised he was 

 A-bamacho or the devil, deeming all devils that are blacker 

 than themselves, and being near to the plantation, they 

 posted to the English, and entreated them, to conjure the 

 devil to his own place, who finding him to be a poor wan- 

 ■dering blackamore, conducted him to his master." It is pre- 

 sumable that there were negro slaves in Massachusetts be- 

 fore 1633, and from time to time contact of Indian and negro 

 must have taken place. That the intermarriage of Indian 

 women with negroes was prevalent to a considerable extent 

 in this State seems probable from Williams's ' remarks upon 

 the decision of Chief Justice Parker: '' that the issue of the 

 marriage of a slave husband and a free wife were free." 



" This decision is strengthened by the statement of Ken- 

 dall " in reference to the widespread desire of negro slaves 

 to secure free Indian wives in order to insure the freedom of 

 their children. He says, " While slavery was supposed to be 

 maintainable by law in Massachusetts, there was a particular 

 temptation to negroes for taking Indian wives, the children 

 of Indian women being acknowledged to be free.'" 



Professor Shaler, in his interesting article " Science and 

 the African Problem,"^ thus expresses himself regarding the 

 question in New England: "It is frequently asserted that 

 the remnants of the New England Indians as well as of 

 other Indian tribes have been extensively mixed with Afri- 

 can blood. It is likely that in New England, at least, this 

 opinion is well founded, though it is doubtful if the mixture 

 is as great as is commonly assumed to have been the case. 

 The dark color of these Indians, which leads many to suppose 

 that they may have a large inheritance of negro blood, is 

 probably in many cases the native hue of the Indian race. 

 The moral and physical result of this blending of two ex- 

 tremely diverse bloods is a matter of the utmost interest. It 

 may be studied to great advantage in the New England In- 

 dians, for among them there has been little in the way of 

 civQ or social proscription to affect the result." 



In a subsequent essay,'' Professor Shaler remarks, " I have 

 been unable definitely to trace the existence in this section 

 of any descendants of the blacks who were then there in the 

 last century, save perhaps in the case of a few who have 

 'become commingled with the remnants of the Indians of 

 Gay Head and Marshpee. If such there be, they are very 

 few in number." 



In the first volume of the "Massachusetts Historical Society 

 Collections"" there is a brief account of the Indians of Martha's 

 "Vineyard : " In the year 1763 there were remaining in Dukes 

 County 313 Indians, 86 of whom were in Edgartown, 39 in 

 Tilbury, and 188 in Chilmack. About that period they be- 

 gan to intermarry with negroes, in consequence of which 

 the mixed race has increased in numbers, and improved in 

 temperance and industry. At present there are of pure In- 

 dians and of the mixed race about MO persons, 70 of whom 

 live on Chappaquiddick (not more than one-third pure), 

 about 35 at Sanchechecantacket (not more than one-third 

 pure), about 40 at Christiantown in the north part of Tis- 

 Tsury, toward the sound (about one-half pure), about 24 at 

 Nashonohkamuck (about three-quarters pure), and about 276 

 at Gay Head (of which about one-fourth are pure). In this 



1 History of the Negro Race in America, vol. i. p . 180. 



2 Travels, vol. ii. p. 179. 



3 Atlantic Monthly, vol Ixvi. 1890, p. 40, eol. 1. 

 ■> The Arena, vol. ii. p. 666. 



* Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1st series, vol. i. p. 206. 



account unmixed negroes are not reckoned." This infor- 

 mation is given upon the authority of " Capt. Jerningham 

 and Benj. Basset, Esq." 



In Belknap's "Answer to Judge Tucker's Queries " it is 

 stated,^ "Some negroes are incorporated, and their breed 

 mixed with the Indians of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, 

 and the Indians are said to he meliorated by the mixture." 



In Volume III. of the second series, under date of 1802,^ we 

 find an account of the Indians of Marshpee: " The inhabit- 

 ants of Marshpee are denominated Indians, but very few of 

 the pure race are left. There are negroes, mulattoes, and 

 Germans. Their numbers have often been taken, and have 

 not varied much during the past twenty years. At present 

 there are about 80 houses and 380 souls." According to an 

 exact census taken in 1808, the Indians, negroes, and mulat- 

 toes in Marshpee numbered 357. 



In the "History of New Bedford (1858)," by Daniel Rick- 

 etson, there is (pp. 253-262) an account of Paul Cuffee, 

 whose mother was " an Indian woman named Euth Moses." 

 Cuffee was born on Cuttyhunk, one of the Elizabeth Islands, 

 in 1759, and died on his farm at Westportin 1817. His father 

 was a native of Africa, and Cuffee is described as " a man 

 of noble personal appearance, tall, portly and dignified in his 

 bearing. His complexion was not dark, and his hair was 

 straight" (p. 225). At the age of twenty-five Cuffee 

 married a member of his mother's tribe. He was a man of 

 considerable attainments, being a sailor as well as a farmer. 

 Robert Rantoul, sen., in a paper read before the Beverly 

 Lyceum in April, 1833,' says of the negroes, "Some are in- 

 corporated with the Indians of Cape Cod and Martha's Vine- 

 yard, and the Indians are said to be improved by the mix- 

 ture." He also states ■' regarding the 6,001 "persons other 

 than white,'' returned by the United States census of 1790 as 

 resident in Massachusetts (with Maine), that it is supposed 

 the blacks were upwards of 4,000; and of the remaining 

 2,000 many were a mixed breed between Indians and blacks." 

 Of the Gay Head Indians, a recent visitor, Mr. W. H. 

 Clark, ° says, "The Indian reservations present much of in- 

 terest. The Gay Head Indians, who, since the days of the 

 early settlement of the country, have been friendly to the 

 white men, are an industrious and cleanly people. Although 

 one observes much that betokens the Indian type, the ad- 

 mixture of negi'o and white blood has materially changed 

 them. A few years ago the Indians were admitted to citi- 

 zenship, and one of their tribe was elected to the General 

 Assembly of Massachusetts. The* women far surpass the 

 men in intelligence and thrift. The Indians earn a liveli- 

 hood by agriculture, fishing, and as caterers to the tourists 

 who visit Gay Head. Their little restaurants are scrupu- 

 lously clean and very inviting places, where simple hut good 

 meals can be obtained. The number now on the reservation 

 is not far from one hundred and fifty. Many, however, 

 have sought homes for themselves elsewhere." An interest- 

 ing point in connection with the history of the Indian and 

 negro in Massachusetts is the deportation of the Pequots to 

 the Bermudas " after their utter defeat in the disastrous war 

 which closed in 1638. We must also notice the importation 

 of negroes from Barbadoes in exchange for Indians.' 



p. 206 



1 Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1st series, vol. i 

 Ccf. L'd series, vol. iii. p. 12). 



2 Vol. iii. 1815, p. 4. 



3 Printed in part in Historical Collections of Esses Institute, vol. 



.pp. 



■1 Loc. cit., p. 99. 



s Johns Hopkins University Circulars, No. 84, December, 1890, p. 28. 

 ^ Williams, History of the Negro Race in America, vol. i. pp. 173, 174 ; De 

 Forest, History of the Indians of Connecticut (1852J, pp. 117-160. 



^ Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1st series, vol. i. p. 206. 



