What's Her Story: Do You Remember Mother?

You may know now that much of my family is tied in with the Creek Nation. My ancestors were slaves of that tribe. It's interesting to understand the makeup of Indian Territory before it became Oklahoma. How the tribes governed themselves and how different it was from the rest of the US. I wanted to understand more about this key piece of time, so I started researching the tribe.

When a Black woman had a child with a Native man, her child was considered black, and not a part of the respective tribe. When a Native woman had a child with a Black man, he child was considered a blood member of the tribe. Lineage was determined through the mother.

I feel that there is so much power in that. That the mother determined a whole identity. I wondered of my ancestors... do you remember your mother? Do you remember what identity she gave you? Do you remember how her life shaped yours?

This was my though process in creating this piece, not having all the answers when it comes to finding every person on my family tree. I hid the title of the piece in the piece itself... do you see it? I used pieces of post cards and antique passages in books to represent my search for my roots. How does this piece make you feel?