The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America

The Mormons, who began arriving in Utah in 1847, became especially notorious Indigenous slavers. Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, thought slavery was a natural part of the human condition. Many Mormons also believed that the Indigenous groups were descendants of Lamanites, an ancient tribe of Israel. In the Book of Mormon, God cursed the Lamanites, who grew increasingly warlike over the centuries. For many Mormons, enslavement was the path toward redemption for these Indigenous groups. Like other white settlers though, the Mormons were uncomfortable with the bloodshed and mayhem that trafficking caused. Young’s solution was to crack down on some forms of trafficking, especially that of children. He supported a law that would enable Utah residents to become guardians of Indigenous minors. By doing so, he hoped to prevent some of the most brutal aspects of the Indigenous slave trade while also helping redeem Indigenous peoples. In the end, Mormons, like many other white settlers, still view Indigenous peoples as slaves or at least “an underclass that could be readily exploited” (274).

A direct result of the American conquest of the West and the Civil War was the enslavement of Navajos in the 1860s. During the Civil War, the Navajos in New Mexico grew increasingly frustrated with their treatment by white settlers. In the spring of 1860, the Navajos assembled more than 1,000 warriors, which was the largest war party ever recorded in their history. The war party aimed to “overrun the only American military outpost established within Navajo territory” (278). In response, white and Hispanic residents of frontier communities banded together to form local militias. Other Indigenous groups who were enemies of the Navajos also fought back against the Navajos. The US military also got involved in the conflict. The Navajos and US government signed a peace treaty, but some Navajos continued attacking white settlements. Many of these Navajos were from lower socioeconomic statuses and had lost much in the various conflicts and raids through the years. The US military’s fight against the Navajos continued through 1864, when many of the Navajos began surrendering after the US army made it to Canyon de Chelly.

US government officials relocated the Navajos to the Bosque Redondo reservation in New Mexico. Many Navajos were captured by slavers heading to the reservation and sold off throughout the American Southwest. For the Navajos, this period is known as “the Fearing Time” (293). By the end of this forced removal, more than 8,000 Navajos lived on the reservation. Many remained as slaves to wealthy New Mexicans, including government officials. In fact, the percentage that remained enslaved was extremely high. Reséndez notes that “for the present-day United States as a whole, it would be as if the population of California, Texas, or New York and New England combined were suddenly sold off into slavery” (294).

Chapter 12 focuses on the “piecemeal process of liberating Indian slaves” (312) by the federal government. As the North gained victories over the South in the Civil War, a group of congressmen began to think about what the country would be like post-Civil War. Congress created the Joint Special Committee on the Condition of the Indian Tribes to investigate their treatment by US military and civil authorities. Despite amassing hundreds of pages of testimonies and documents, the committee did not produce any concrete proposals for how to end Indigenous slavery.

American leaders also initially tried to include the term “involuntary servitude” in the 13th Amendment. While this amendment was to ensure the abolition of slavery for Black individuals, the inclusion of this term would have enabled the amendment to be applied to other forms of slavery. This amendment passed in 1865, but a Supreme Court ruling in 1873 resulted in the law only being applicable to chattel slavery in the South.

It was only the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 that granted federal citizenship to Indigenous peoples living in the US. Congress failed to end the other slavery through constitutional amendments. Reséndez emphasizes that “in contrast to the enormous dynamism and adaptability of the other slavery, the legal framework introduced to combat this form of bondage remained narrowly conceived and frozen in time” (313). Legal scholars note that the 13th Amendment played almost no role in ending the other slavery, even though it was supposed to nationalize the right of freedom for all those living in the US. The US, and most places around the world, have failed to abolish the other slavery. Thousands of agricultural workers continue to live in economic peonage throughout the country.

The US and global community broadly have seen the emergence of new forms of the other slavery. In the late 1800s, for example, padrones, an Italian word meaning boss, dominated various immigrant communities. These padrones helped their fellow compatriots travel to the US at exuberant costs. They also pocketed much of their employees’ salaries, even holding some in bondage. The padrones were akin to slave owners of the American past.

As Reséndez demonstrates, slavery, particularly that of Indigenous peoples, has existed for the last 400 years and continues to exist today. While there has been a resurgent focus on modern-day slavery, Reséndez believes that the history of Indigenous enslavement provides lessons. First, slavery is not new. By placing the emphasis on new forms of slavery, many of which are based on much older practices, we continue to “underestimate the staying power and extraordinary adaptability of slavery itself” (319). The failure of countless laws and campaigns to eradicate Indigenous slavery over a 400-year period is a powerful testament to this horrible truth. Second, the other slavery does not comprise a single institution. Instead, various practices, such as the encomienda system and debt peonage, are suited to different markets and cultural contexts. Many of these practices, which involve informal labor coercion, fall within legal grey areas. This makes tracking slavery more difficult. Finally, it is incredibly difficult to truly stomp out slavery. While various laws, such as the New Laws of 1542, the Spanish Campaign, and the 13th Amendment, all legally prohibited slavery, none of them ended slavery.