A section of the back of the book reads:

"AMONG THE CREEKS, they were known as Estelvste-- black people-- and they had lived among them since the days of the first Spanish entradas. They spoke the same language as the Creeks, ate the same foods, and shared kinship ties. Their only difference was the color of their skin.

Taking in the full historical sweep of African Americans among the Creeks, from the sixteenth century through Oklahoma statehood, Gary Zellar unfolds a narrative history of the many contribution these people made to Creek history.

Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, Zellar reveals how African people functioned as warriors, interpreters, preachers, medicine men, and even slave labor, all of which contributed to the Creeks' ability to withstand the shocks of Anglo-American expansion. Zellar describes how African Creeks made a place for themselves in a tolerant Creek Nation which they had access to land, resourcesm and political leverage-- and how post-Civil War "reform" reduced them to the second-class citizenship of other African Americans."