My name is Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq El and I am a Cherokee Blackfoot American Indian who is Muslim. I am known as Eagle Sun Walker. I serve as a Pipe Carrier Warrior for the Northeastern Band of Cherokee Indians in New York City.
There are other Muslims in our group. For the most part, not many people are aware of the Native American contact with Islam that began over one thousand years ago by some of the early Muslim travelers who visited us. Some of these Muslim travelers ended up living among our people.
For most Muslims and non-Muslims of today, this type of information
is unknown and has never been mentioned in any of the history books. There
are many documents, treaties, legislation and resolutions that were passed
between 1600s and 1800s that show that Muslims were in fact here and were
very active in the comunities in which they lived. Treaties such as Peace
and Friendship that was signed on the Delaware River in the year 1787 bear
the signatures of Abdel-Khak and Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. This treaty detailes
our continued right to exist as a community in the areas of commerce, maritime
shipping, current form of government at that time which was in accordance
with Islam. According to a federal court case from the Continental Congress,
we help put the breath of life in to the newly framed constitution. All
of the documents are presently in the National Archives as well as the
Library of Congress.
If you have access to records in the state of South Carolina, read
the Moors Sundry Act of 1790. In a future article, Inshallah,
I will go in to more details about the various tribes, their languages;
in which some are influenced by Arabic, Persian, Hebrew words. Almost all
of the tribes vocabulary include the word Allah. The traditional dress
code for Indian women includes the kimah and long dresses. For men, standard
fare is turbans and long tops that come down to the knees. If you were
to look at any of the old books on Cherokee clothing up until the time
of 1832, you will see the men wearing turbans and the women wearing long
head coverings. The last Cherokee chief who had a Muslim name was Ramadhan
Ibn Wati of the Cherokees in 1866.
Cities across the United States and Canada bear names that are of Indian and Islamic derivation. Have you ever wondered what the name Tallahassee means? It means that He Allah will deliver you sometime in the future.
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