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Welcome to Stolen Relations: Recovering Stories of Indigenous Enslavement in the Americas. This community based project, housed at Brown University, is a collaborative effort to build a database of enslaved and unfree indigenous people throughout time all across the Americas in order to promote greater understanding of the historical circumstances and ongoing trauma of settler colonialism. Please note that this site is under construction, and the database does not yet have a public portal. We are actively working on this project, however, and and are looking for volunteers and scholars to contribute materials. We invite you to visit our About page to learn more about the project and how to contribute.

Image: “Return of Indians,” Mosquito Shore registry of enslaved Indians, 1777. CO 123/31/125. The National Archives, UK.

About

The concept:

Stolen Relations (formerly the Database of Indigenous Slavery in the Americas) is a community-centered database project funded by Brown University and the National Endowment for the Humanities that seeks to illuminate and understand the role the enslavement of Indigenous peoples played in settler colonialism over time. As we scour the archives, we are seeking to document as many instances as possible of Indigenous enslavement in the Americas between 1492 and 1900 (and beyond, where relevant). Long overlooked by scholars and almost completely unknown to the wider public, the enslavement of Indigenous peoples was a persistent and destabilizing aspect of settler colonialism that tore apart communities and families and aided settler colonial expansion. The enslavement of Native Americans was a hemispheric phenomenon, perpetrated by every European colonial power in their invasion of the Americas. Scholars now estimate that between 2.5 and 5 million Natives were enslaved in the Americas between 1492 and the late nineteenth century – an astonishing number by any measure (even compared to the approximately 10.5 -12 million Africans who were brought as slaves from Africa in this same time period).

Our project seeks to recover the stories of individuals as well as educate the public on the reality of these processes. We are focused primarily on New England for now, and are working in close partnership with approximately thirteen regional tribes, nations, and communities. While this project seeks to bring greater understanding to the past, it is important to recognize that these Indigenous nations are still here, in New England and all across the Americas, and have vibrant communities and cultural traditions. They, too, have oral histories regarding settler colonialism, displacement, indigenous enslavement, and ongoing survival into the present that need to inform our understanding of the past; archival materials alone are insufficient. In combination with tribal input, Stolen Relations will allow the slow centralization of biographical information related to enslaved indigenous people and place it online where historians, researchers, students, tribal members, and families can use the information to reconstruct histories, chart networks, and make connections in ways that have never before been possible. These are hard realities and difficult histories, but they need to be told fully so we can start to be more honest about the history of this country and think more clearly about how to make amends moving forward. 

We are grateful for our partnerships with our tribal collaborators, as well as various Brown departments and centers listed below.

Timeline:

In August 2022, we received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and hope to have a live prototype in late 2023.

How to contribute:

In this early phase, the database is not yet public. We are working with our tribal partners and a team of researchers to identify, enter, and interpret relevant historical and oral historical materials. We are looking to partner with individuals and institutions who are willing to send materials they have or join our research team to input materials directly. Please see our Contribute page or contact Linford D. Fisher to learn more.

Acknowledgements

Stolen Relations has been generously funded and supported by the following entities:

Brown University Library

Center for Digital Scholarship, Brown University Library

Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Brown University

Department of History, Brown University

Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative, Brown University

National Endowment for the Humanities

Office of the Vice President for Research, Brown University

Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University

Social Sciences Research Institute, Brown University

People

The Stolen Relations project involves the following people:

Core team:

  • Linford D. Fisher, Associate Professor of History, Brown University; Principal Investigator
  • Ashley Champagne, Director, Center for Digital Scholarship, Brown University; Project Manager
  • Cody Carvel, Digital Fellow, Brown University Library
  • Birkin Diana, Digital Technologies Developer, Brown University Library; Programmer
  • Mairelys Lemus-Rojas, Head of Metadata Services, Brown University Library
  • Patrick Rashleigh, Data Visualization Coordinator, Center for Digital Scholarship, Brown University; Technical Lead
  • Laura Tamayo, Undergraduate Student, Brown University; Community Content Coordinator
  • Elizabeth Yalkut, Front End Developer, Brown University Library
  • Zoe Zimmermann, Undergraduate Student, Brown University; Research Assistant Coordinator

Tribal Community Collaborators (partial listing)

  • Ken Alves, Chief, Assonet Band of Wampanoags
  • Sandi Brewster-Walker, Montaukett Indian Nation
  • Natasha Gambrell, Eastern Pequot
  • Alma Gordon, Sonksq, Chappaquiddick Wampanoag
  • Faries Gray, Massachuset-Ponkapaog Tribe
  • Cheryll Toney Holley, Chief, Nipmuc Nation
  • Liz Coldwind Santana Kiser, Councilwoman, Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck
  • Alexis Moreis, Chappaquiddick Wampanoag
  • Meagan Running Deer Page, Councilwoman, Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe
  • Ryan Page, Tribal Council Chairman, Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe
  • Jim Peters, Executive Director, Massachusetts Indian Affairs; Mashpee Wampanoag
  • Paula Peters, writer, Mashpee Wampanoag 
  • Lorén Spears, Director, Tomaquag Museum, Narragansett
  • Marissa Turnbull, Mashantucket Pequot
  • Ray Williams, Chappaquiddick Wampanoag

Research Assistants

  • Kate Alverez, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Naya Lee Chang, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Vishrut Chawla, high school research intern
  • Rob Collins, independent research intern
  • Arman Deendar, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Derek Demello, graduate student intern, Rhode Island College
  • Cameron Gratz, high school research intern
  • Eric Gottlieb, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Harshil Garg, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Bridget Hall, Brown-Tomaquag Fellow, Brown University
  • Corinne Lepage, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Annette Lee, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Lauren Liu, independent research intern
  • Jeamilett Martinez, high school research intern
  • Grace Miller, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Aamanya Sejpal, high school research intern
  • Malcolm Shanks, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Allyson Spoering, Brown-Tomaquag Fellow, Brown University
  • Audrey Wijono, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Erica Wolencheck, Public Humanities MA intern, Brown University
  • Rishabh Wuppalapati, high school research intern
  • Malina Yallanki, independent researcher

Academic Advisors:

  • Tony Bogues, Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Critical Theory, Brown University
  • Alan Gallay, Lyndon B. Johnson Chair of American History, Texas Christian University
  • Rebecca A. Goetz, Associate Professor of History, New York University
  • Rae Gould, Executive Director, Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative, Brown University (Nipmuc)
  • Jason Mancini, Director, Connecticut Humanities
  • Greg O’Malley, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Marjory O’Toole, Little Compton Historical Society
  • Emily Owens, Assistant Professor of History, Brown University
  • Andrés Reséndez, Professor of History, University of California, Davis
  • Brett Rushforth, Assistant Professor of History, University of Oregon
  • Nancy van Deusen, Professor of History, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada

Past Research Assistants and Contributors

  • Sreen Alibeg, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Anika Bahl, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Corrine Bai, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Juan Bettancourt-Garcia, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History, Brown University
  • Maurya Bonu, high school research intern
  • Benjamin Burke, high school research intern
  • Kimonee Burke, PhD candidate, Brown University (Narragansett)
  • Jacob Cousin, School of Public Health, Brown University (Oglala Sioux)
  • Brian Croxall, Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities at Brigham Young University
  • Anjali DasSarma, MA candidate, Brown University
  • Claire Fishman, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Ian Foster, Free University of Berlin
  • Daniel Genkins, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, John Carter Brown Library
  • Olivia George, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Brooke Grasberger, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History, Brown University (Graduate Student Coordinator)
  • Om Gupta, post-secondary research assistant
  • Amanda Kazden, MA candidate, Public Humanities, Brown University
  • Gavin Kim, high school research intern
  • Phoebe Labat, PhD candidate, Brown University
  • Lindsay Lake, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Maiah Letsch, MA candidate, Oxford University
  • Megan Li, high school intern
  • Marley-Vincent Lindsey, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History, Brown University (Research Assistant)
  • Francisco Macossay-Hernandez, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Ingrid Mader, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Amitav Narayan, high school intern
  • Ishan Narra, high school intern
  • Ameesha Pani, high school intern
  • Emily Pierson, PhD candidate, Brown University
  • Tess Renker, PhD candidate, Brown University
  • Elliana Reynolds, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Sophia Saker, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Heather Sanford, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History, Brown University (Graduate Student Coordinator)
  • Atessa Savitt, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Anushka Saxena, high school research intern
  • Harry Seabrook, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Samuel Skinner, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Andrew Simpson, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Michael Simpson, graduate student research assistant, Department of History, Brown University
  • Sarah Uriarte, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Theodore Vial, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Maggie Wang, undergraduate research assistant, Oxford University
  • Gwenyth Winship, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Anna Zhou, high school research intern

With special thanks to the HIST 1970G class (2022)

  • Mary Arend, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Ronan Fitzgerald, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Halle Fowler, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Rowan Gledhill, graduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Eric Gottlieb, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Eleanor Leites, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Madison Mandell, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Leah Mims, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Colin Orihuela, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Lauren Parker, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University
  • Zoe Zimmermann, undergraduate research assistant, Brown University

Blog

Behind the Scenes of Stolen Relations: Highlighting the Development Team

Whether it’s scrolling through our website’s intricately placed historical maps and photographs, learning more through the simple act of clicking a site subheading, or navigating through the archival database— our users owe it all to the Stolen Relations development team. Their work is the glue that holds the project together, as they design the user …

Indigenous Freedom Suits and the Problem of the Law

Zoe Zimmermann One of the many paradoxes of Indigenous enslavement is that, in many regions, the practice flourished well after it was supposedly abolished. The Stolen Relations research team is constantly astonished at the number of cases we discover after colonies and states passed laws against enslaving Indigenous people and even after the 13th amendment. …

Our Community’s Perspective: Highlight on Lorén Spears

Although Stolen Relations started out in 2015 as a mostly academic project, the team members realized over time that it needed input from and collaboration with the Indigenous nations in New England who were most directly affected by settler colonialism. In 2019 the project as a whole took a more intentional turn toward community collaboration …