Why would a small town in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila have a long history of celebrating Juneteenth? It began after Black Seminole Indians were forced to join other tribes on the harrowing Trail of Tears in the mid-1800s.
– Although they’d never been enslaved, after the Seminole Indian Wars in the mid-1800s, Black Seminoles were pursued by slave catchers when they were forced to leave Florida and join the infamous Trail of Tears.
Not only were some being sold off, Fay said Black Seminoles were with other Indians who didn’t want them on their land.Since Mexico had outlawed slavery, Fay said 700 Black Seminoles embarked on a harrowing second Trail of Tears. Originally known as El Nacimiento de los Negros, the name recognized this would be the birthplace of Blacks in their new country.
For them, Juneteenth began as a day of solidarity, especially since Hammack said many of the Black Seminoles in Mexico still had family in the U.S.Harrington, one of the descendants, said Juneteenth is often called “El Diez y Nueve,” or the 19th, in Mexico.
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