Exhibit explores African-Native heritage

“Who has power over you?” “Can you choose your heritage?”

These questions and more are explored in a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution on display at Aurora University’s Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures.

The exhibit, called IndiVisible, analyzes the intersecting histories and identities of African Americans and Native Americans from Christopher Columbus’ time to the present.

Among historical tidbits: Some Native American tribes had African-American slaves; different tribes require different “blood quantums” or percentages of Native American ancestry to be a member; and many natives carry identification cards stating their tribal membership.

The exhibit’s name indicates the relatively unknown status of people of mixed African and Native American heritage, museum director Meg Bero said.

“IndiVisible is sort of a play on invisible,” Bero said. “It’s often assumed that (African-Native Americans) are African American, but they were raised as Native American.”

Over time, these assumptions have created a complex identity for people of dual African American and Native American heritage, Bero said.

“These people have a shared heritage,” Bero said. “We think of Africans, we think of Natives, but we don’t think of people of mixed race, whatever those races are, and those people deal with a whole other set of issues.”

Seeing the exhibit is often an eye-opener for people who have not learned about the intersections between African American and Native American cultures, said Art Burton, professor of history at South Suburban College. Burton, also author of “Black, Red and Deadly: Black and Indian Gunfighters of the Indian Territory, 1870-1907,” will speak about his research at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Schingoethe Center.

“The Smithsonian exhibit is multifaceted. It covers a lot of different areas of the relationship between African Americans and Native Americans,” Burton said.

Even with exhibits such as IndiVisible open to the public, Burton said the histories of mixed-race people in the United States often remain shrouded because they are not taught in schools.

Bero said some high school groups plan to tour the exhibit before it closes Feb. 27, and she will train students from Aurora University’s Black Student Association to give tours to other university classes and groups.

While all Americans can benefit from a deeper understanding of how the country’s racial relations took form, Burton said the exhibit also may help members of these two ethnicities who have not explored their connections to other ethnic groups.

“Some Native Americans have not taken a look as deep as they should at their relationship with African Americans,” Burton said. “Many times, African Americans will acknowledge Native blood and haven’t taken a close look at the relationship.”