Re: ZDUTTON -Black Dutch again!

All you Duttons,
    Sorry that you couldn't read the parts of the article that I highlighted.
I've learned
a lesson from this and in the future will not do this.  Since I think this is
an important
article because it does mention Dutton, I will type it all out.  I have no
idea whose Duttons they are referring to in this article.  It could be mine.
                   THE ELUSIVE BLACK DUTCH by Jimmy H, Crane
     Many people who now live in and have roots in NE MS, N AL, and S TN, and
other parts of the South are descendants of the Black Dutch.  What was and who
are the Black Dutch?  The term in some areas has become so antiquated that
only a
few select of the elderly even remember the association fo the term.  I first
heard the
Black Dutch Term from my grandmother Crane who had the surname Page,  Her
grandparents were Butlers and Mayhalls.  She would often refer to her lineage
as
Black Dutch.  She said, "Poppy said we were Black Dutch and Indian."  As a
very
curious youngster, I was always asking myself who are the Black Dutch?  Where
did they come from?  Sometimes my mother would say I think we are "kin to the
Indians."  Grandma so and so looked like an Indian.  As time went by, the term
lay dormant except when both sides of the family were together for a reunion
or a
funeral, and conversation would arise as to who we were and where did we come
from.  Both sides of my families characteristics range from dark hair, dark
eyes and
olive skin, to red hair, blue eyes and fair complexioned people.  This is
somewhat
typical of some families of the area.  With such blending over the past
hundred and fifty years, it was interesting to try to determine who was what
and what was who.
     Once my cousin from GA who was attending a funeral came up to me and in a
low voice seriously asked. '"who is this Black Dutch in our family?"  Although
I had
corresponded in the early 90's to relatives concerning genealogy and would
sometimes mention the Black Dutch, it was not until June 1995 at the Iuka, MS
Heritage Day Festival that I really went into high gear and got into the act
of a serious search for the Black Dutch.  When the term Black Dutch was
mentioned,
many of the people held up their hand and looked at one another.  I knew then
I was
not alone in wondering about the Black Dutch.  Black Irish is sometimes used,
but
not as much as Black Dutch.  My grateful appreciation goes to Pat Smith (White
Buffalo Woman) from Utah.  After the Iuka Heritage Day, she contacted me re-
searching the Black Dutch since I lived where so many Black Dutch descendants
were located.  ALSO, PAT HAD COLLECTED SOME BLACK DUTCH SURNAMES
AND HAD ENCOUNTERED THE TERM IN MO AND AR WITH THE CHICKAMAUGA
CHEROKEE.  Mila-Capes-Alton at the Burnsville, MS Intertribal Gathering
reinforced
my findings and encouraged me to keep researching and to broaden my research.
Mila heads the "White Wolf Reports" in Iowa Park, TX.  Mila's people walked
the 
Trail from MS.  Vickie L. Heffon-Luster, Tribal genealogist for the Chickasaw
Nation
in OK also encouraged me to do more interviews and collect more information.
My
friend, William Johnson, from Iuka has been most helpful in interviewing and
contacting families in and around  the Iuka, MS area about their Black Dutch
heritage.
     SURNAMES WITH BLACK DUTCH HERITAGE THAT WE HAVE COLLECTED TO DATE ARE ALL
ENGLISH NAMES.  How interesting!  William and I recognized that true Dutch
names would be similar to German Spellings and pronunciations.  
Names like Brown, Butler, Mayhall, Johnson, Tiffin, and Massey, for example,
somehow did not sound Dutch or German.But these were names with Black Dutch
lineage.  Here' another notch to the handle:  ALMOST EVERY TIME THAT BLACK
DUTCH WAS FOUND, INDIAN LINEAGE WAS FOUND AND SO FAR TO DATE THE ASSOCIATION
HAS BEEN CHEROKEE.  Dove (Wanda Tice) from Hamilton,
AL, who is connected with the Eagle Bear Clan of the Free Cherokee said in the
16th
issue of the Bankhead Monitor that her grandmother TOLD HER THAT HER FAMILY
ESCAPED THE TRAIL OF TEARS.  THEY WERE FORCED TO HIDE IN CAVES
AND BECAME KNOWN AS BLACK DUTCH TO HIDE THEIR IDENTITY(40).
In a telephone conversation with with Dove, she told me that other tribes
besides the
Cherokee also used the Black Dutch term.  Included were the Chickasaw and the
Chocktaw.  I believe the Creek descendants could have used the term.  One of
my own grandmothers, who my great aunt told me about, was referred to as Black
Dutch
and was often mistaken for an Indian when they migrated to OK in the late
1800's.
     DURING THE RECENT BURNSVILLE, MS INTER-TRIBAL GATHERING ON THE
BANKS OF THE TENN-TOM WATERWAY, I TALKED WITH MEMBERS OF THE DRUM GROUP AND
THE FOUR-FIRES DANCE GROUP WHO WERE FROM THE
FLORENCE, AL AREA.  ONE MEMBER OF THE DRUM GROUP[SAID HIS PEOPLE, THE
CHEROKEE, WERE ALSO KNOWN AS BLACK DUTCH; THAT THIS WAS JUST ANOTHER NAME USED
TO COVER UP THE INDIAN IDENTITY.
REMEMBER, FROM THE 1830'S ON, IT WAS PERILOUS TIMES FOR THOSE WHO BRAVED
ANDREW JACKSON'S GREED AND POLITICAL REIGN OF TERROR ON THE SE INDIAN PEOPLE.
ALSO, THIS GENTLEMAN MENTIONED
THAT HE HAD HEARD OF 2 TYPES OF DUTCH, THE HIGHLAND DUTCH AND THE BLACK DUTCH.
HE SAID THAT THE BLACK DUTCH WERE THE CHEROKEE.  2 MEMBERS OF THE OF THE FOUR
-DRUM DANCE GROUP,
THE GREENS, AND WHO ARE NOTABLY CHEROKEE, SAID THEIR PEOPLE
WERE BLACK DUTCH.  MR. JIM GREEN TOLD ME THE BLACK DUTCH CAME
THROUGH HIS MOTHER WHO HAD THE SURNAME OF DUTTON.  MRS.
LOUISE GREEN INFORMED ME THAT BLACK DUTCH WAS SIMPLY ANOTHER
NAME FOR CHEROKEE.  OTHER INFORMATION THAT WAS REFERRED TO
ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF THE BLACK DUTCH WAS THE CENSUS ROLLS IN
THE MOULTON, AL AREA.  ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOT SEEN THE CENSUS,
MR. GREEN INDICATED, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT IN THE 1860'S A NAME WAS
LISTED AS WHITE(RACE).   THE NEXT 10 YEARS, THE SAME NAME OR FAMILY
WAS LISTED AS BLACK DUTCH; AND THE NEXT 10 YEARS, THE SAME NAMES
WOULD BE LISTED AS CHEROKEE.
     What is elusive is what time in history was the Black Dutch term used?  A
STRONG PROBABILITY IS AFTER 1830 WHEN THE FORCED REMOVAL BEGAN FROM THE
HOMELAND.  How the origin  of the term came about is another
question.  Was there in fact a Dutch people with similar physical
characteristics, or
was the term coined or manufactured to match the occasion?  The fact of it is,
it
worker very well.  It is understandable that the Southern homeland Cherokee,
Chickasaw, and others who remained behind had to come up with a cover-up in
order to survive.  A personal theory is that after 1830 and in the mid 1800's,
the
Chickasaw, Cherokee, and mabye even some Creeks, because of the land issue
and  forced removal, those that were of mixed blood or even full-blooded were
forced
to go underground.  THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO BECOME WHITE IN ORDER
TO OWN LAND AND KEEP THEIR HOMES AND SURVIVE.  THEY MAY HAVE
DENIED THEIR INDIAN IDENTITY SIMPLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE SAFEST THING TO DO AT
THE TIME.  THIS MAY HAVE LED THEM (MORE EXPECIALLY THE
WOMEN) TO TAKE ON THE TERM "BLACK DUTCH OR "BLACK IRISH."  I HAVE
HEARD BOTH TERMS USED IN NE MS, BUT BLACK DUTCH SEEMS TO BE THE MOST
PREVALENT.  ALSO, THE CHILDREN, WHEN THEY BECAME OF AGE
TO MARRY MAY HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGED TO SEEK OUT MATES WHO WERE WHITE OR HAD MORE
WHITE OR EUROPEAN DESCENT.  THE ONE
GENERATION OF BLENDING AND REBLENDING MAY HAVE OCCURRED AFTER
THE 1840'S AND 1850'S.  
    THE NE MS HILLS (WHERE I WAS RAISED NEAR AL) WERE CONSIDERED
FAIRLY ISOLATED UNTIL WELL INTO THE 20TH CENTRY.  A FEW SHORT MILES AWAY INTO
NORTH AL ARE THE FREEDOM HILLS, WHICH WERE MORE ISOLATED AND LACED WITH MANY
HAIR-RAISING STORIES.  MY THOUGHTS
ARE THAT MANY OF THE CHICKASAW, CHEROKEE, AS WELL AS CREEK
DESCENDENTS, TOOK REFUGE IN THESE HILLS.  We are known as the hill
people in these area.  Also, the people were not very mobile.  There is little
doubt
in my mind that many of the hill people who claim the Black Dutch or Black
Irish
descent are actually more of Native American descent than they really know.
It
always has been more interesting to me to travel the back roads of my home
county
(Itawamba) that borders AL and notice the people.  What is sad to me is that
many of the people don't know their heritage.
     I have heard associations of the term with the black forest in Germany.
Outside
the South and especially the identified areas of NE MS , N AL, and S TN, the
Dutch
term is usually associated with the true German or Dutch people.
     I had the opportunity recently to ask Mr. Robert Eggloff, an educator in
Switzerland who speaks German, if he had ever heard of the term Black Dutch.
Mr. Eggloff, who was knowledgeable about the European Dutch world, replied
that he had
"NEVER" heard of such a term used from Europe to describe the German/Dutch
people.  
     At the Intertribal gathering in Burnsville, MS, I met an outstanding
gentleman from the 6 nations in Canada by the name of Walter Hill.  Mr. Hill,
a recognized medicine
man, said to me, "If anyone has a drop of Indian blood, why throw it away?"
He
pointed out  that events like the Intertribal Gatherings are bringing out the
descendants of the Indian people.
     the Black Dutch survive today in many of the hearts of the hill people.
A proud
people with an elusive spirit who had to hide out, go underground and conceal
their identity to live another day.  They never gave up.  they never
surrendered.  The drum beats for the elusive
"Black Dutch."  My search continues.    Winter, 1995, Volume 3, No. 2

     Those of you that say that you've heard the name Black Dutch mentioned in
your
Dutton family, they might have been referring to my Duttons, who then, have to
be
related to you.
Artie