A Generational Calculation? Black-Indian Intermarriage and Slavery in Colonial Massachusetts

This essay examines the extensive intermarriage between enslaved men and Indian women in colonial Massachusetts. While scholars in the past have studied this phenomenon, most explore the relationships from the perspective of the women. After 1676, these women, considered full tribal members, came to outnumber the men in their societies. Looking for partners but legally prohibited from marrying whites, native women turned to Massachusetts’s burgeoning enslaved and free black population. This story only tells one side and ignores African men, who had their own rationale for marrying Native American women. While slaves in Massachusetts were allowed to marry, they could only wed other people of color and men comprised over 60% of the black population in Massachusetts. These men, in search of wives, found Indian women a suitable match.

The question remains as to why these men would want to marry Native American women. Enslaved men deliberately ignored the obstacles to these unions, such as geographic proximity, their master’s prerogative, and limited mobility, and found native spouses. While love certainly factored into this equation, there was also a shrewd generational calculation in seeking out an Indian bride. Native American women were legally free, meaning any children the couple produced would have also been free. More important was the fact that these women had a tribal affiliation and any rights, especially access to land, that entailed. Any children born as a result of these black-Indian intermarriages would have been born free, full members of a tribal community, and property owners, all a far cry from the status of their fathers. By examining the relationships between enslaved African men and Native American women, we can see the strategies employed by migrants on the margins to engrain themselves in local communities and find success, even if it was reserved for the next generation.