Phase Three. Entanglement. As slavery became codified, African and Indigenous lives grew increasingly bound together through proximity, survival, and necessity. Within colonial and early American systems, Africans and Native peoples labored alongside one another, shared land, formed families, and navigated overlapping systems of control imposed by European and later U.S. authorities. In many regions, enslaved Africans sought refuge among Indigenous nations. In others, Africans were held in bondage within Native territories shaped by colonial pressure. Over time, intermarriage and kinship created communities that did not fit neatly into emerging racial categories. These relationships were not uniform or idealized. They were shaped by local conditions, power, and survival. As the United States expanded, Native nations were forced into treaties and policies that increasingly reflected American racial hierarchies. Some tribes adopted chattel slavery under pressure tied to land, recognition, or economic survival. Others resisted or adapted differently. Across these systems, African ancestry became increasingly scrutinized, even when families and communities had existed for generations. Entanglement produced identities that were lived before they were named. Black American Indians emerged through shared history, not paperwork. Community often existed long before classification. This phase marks the height of connection before restriction followed. What had been fluid would soon face narrowing, as law and documentation replaced kinship and memory. #Entanglement #BlackAmericanIndian #ArchivalSeries #HistoricalRecord