Her work contributes to a growing effort to better understand these intertwined histories while also helping to shape an emerging collaboration with Harvard focused on expanding the study of Indigenous slavery within its institutional and regional context.

Now, as an intern with NBU, Jubi is building on this work through archival research in Massachusetts, identifying and organizing materials that reveal the presence of Indigenous slavery in the region’s historical record.

Her research has already begun to show these connections. In a 1637 voyage of the Desire, Jubi traced one of the earliest documented convergences of Indigenous & African slavery in New England, following the ship’s transport of Pequot captives to the Caribbean and its return with enslaved Africans.

𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 – 𝐉𝐮𝐛𝐢 𝐎𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐨

Jubi Oladipo first connected with us by reaching out to ask how she could help with the work. A student at Harvard College studying History and African American Studies, her research explores the intersections of African American and Native American histories.

Whatever the region, someone had to go out and collect the material, strip it, dry it, and bind it into a usable tool. They wore down quickly, and new ones were made as seasons changed and plants aged. They were everyday objects, used until they fell apart and then remade again.

In arid regions, people relied on the tough fibers of lechuguilla or sotol since grasses were limited. In wetter lowlands and along the Caribbean coast, palm fronds, cane, and rushes were gathered and tied into sweeping bundles.

In the long history of coerced domestic labor, the broom was one of the tools most often in the hands of those who were enslaved.

Its purpose is work; it sweeps dust, debris, and whatever settles on the floor. Brooms stood in corners, leaned against doorways, or rested beside a hearth, always present, rarely acknowledged, and usually out of sight.

nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view...

There is something about a broom that feels subtly resonant of slavery. Across time and many landscapes, it appears as a simple household tool, made by gathering grasses or shrubs and binding them into a bundle.

Antoine, 10 years old at death, a "panis child belonging to Joseph Carignan" in Batiscan, Quebec. Native Bound Unbound is committed to recovering as much information as possible about each individual.

You can visit Antoine's page at nativeboundunbound.org/people/7450d... to learn more.

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President Elizabeth Alexander recently shared inspiring words about NBU. Foundational support from the Mellon Foundation was instrumental in catalyzing the project, but we need help moving forward to continue our work! Please click the link above to learn more.

The New Yorker recently published “The Hidden History of Native American Enslavement.”

At Native Bound Unbound, we are working to recover and reconnect the lives behind this history.

Support the work:
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#IndigenousHistory #PublicHistory

Want to help with the project? You can give us feedback about the website! Follow the link in our bio or click on the address below to access our site survey:

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The Hidden History of Native American Enslavement Indigenous slavery, which lasted for centuries, has gone by many names. A new public history project wants us to see it for what it was.

Indigenous slavery, which lasted for centuries, has gone by many names. A new public history project wants us to see it for what it was. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/6enUA-

We are incredibly thankful to @newyorker.com and @geraldo-cadava.bsky.social for highlighting not just our project but the history of Indigenous slavery.

Read more at www.newyorker.com/books/page-t... or by following the link in our bio.

Did you see our new maps of the Puerto de Santo Domingo? There is a new "Story" on the site that places these in the context of our project and gives more detail about the human trafficking and enslavement that occurred.

View it at nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view...

We have added a new StoryCorps featuring Dr. Deborah Trujillo Terracino and her cousin Leonard. They talk about their ancestors Juan Estevan Trujillo and his son Lorenzo Trujillo from Abiquiú, New Mexico.

Check it out on our website at nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view...

This article from August 13, 1766 in the Edinburgh Evening Courant is now available on the website and details how a 14 year old boy ran away from his “master's” house in Glasgow.

Read more at nativeboundunbound.org/archives/22b...

Were you aware that Indigenous peoples from the Americas were enslaved and shipped across the Atlantic to places like Scotland and England?

Treuer examines how Native identity in the United States has been shaped by law, policy, and the legacy of settler colonialism, producing the terms through which being and belonging have been recognized, denied, or challenged.

This project exists because of the support of institutions and individuals, a constellation of team members across disciplines and geographies, and the community members and descendants who have entrusted us with stories, documents, and memories. This work is, above all, relational.

Just days after the winter solstice, we stand at the threshold of a new year. As the light slowly returns, this season has long been a time for storytelling.

As we reflect on the recent premiere of Native Bound Unbound and the work ahead, gratitude is at the center of our thoughts.

There is still time to help us reach our year end goal for fundraising! Please help us recover the names and histories of those Indigenous enslaved individuals still waiting in the pages of the archives and the whispers of their stories.
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This correction demonstrates the importance of examining historical records in their full context rather than in isolation—a critical practice in genealogical research and one that Native Bound Unbound is committed to as we honor the stories of Indigenous ancestors with accuracy and care.

While the parish register shows "a.D. 1927" at the top of the page, when viewing the entire book, the year was actually 1926. The entry itself is #11, dated December 21, 1927, with a correction made by the priest to the right, a number six over the number 7.

Please follow the story of Francisco Valdez, as we trace the imprints from the past into the present, honoring his resilience and the legacy of family, identity, and survival that continues through generations.

Native Bound Unbound is committed to honoring Francisco Valdez in 2026 by uploading documents, images, oral history and memory, as well as transcribed and translated interviews given by his descendants over the years, to his personal profile on the Native Bound Unbound website.

We recognize that the stories of Indigenous people captured and bound in servitude are especially critical for descendants. For these individuals and communities, uncovering and honoring these histories offers the potential for transcendence and healing.

Though Francisco could never remember his language, his homeland, or even which tribe he came from, he maintained his Indigenous identity throughout his life and passed this knowledge to his descendants.

His story, recorded across three census enumerations, shows his transfer between households and his continued servitude into adulthood, a pattern that represents the experience of countless Indigenous children forcibly removed from their people.