James Coody Johnson
The birth of James Coody Johnson in 1864 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black Creek lawyer, politician, cowboy, and entrepreneur.
His father was Robert Johnson, an African Creek interpreter for the Seminole nation, and his mother was Elizabeth Davis (Johnson), daughter of Sarah Davis. Young Johnson was born at Fort Gibson, OK, where his mother had gone for protection as a refugee during the Civil War.
He received his early education at the Presbyterian Mission north of Wewoka, OK. Later, the Seminole nation sponsored his education at Lincoln University in Chester, Pennsylvania. Johnson returned to the Indian Territory in 1884, after his graduation, and was hired on as a cowboy with a cattle company. For the next year and a half, he rode the range in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas as one of the many Black cowboys in the West.
After his father's death in 1886, Coody returned to Creek country. He used his bilingual abilities and education to secure a job as an interpreter for Judge Isaac Parker, who presided over the Federal District Court for Western Arkansas, which at the time had jurisdiction over the Indian Territory. After studying law under Judge Parker and being admitted to practice in the federal courts, Johnson was one of the few freedmen accorded dual citizenship in both the Creek and Seminole nations and acted as the official interpreter for the Seminole nation, as well as an adviser to Seminole Chief Halputta Micco.
Johnson also became a leading figure in Creek politics, serving in the House of Warriors for several terms and on many official delegations to Washington during the allotment period. Johnson was also a tireless advocate of full citizenship rights for Blacks after Oklahoma entered the Union as a Jim Crow state in 1907. James Coody Johnson died in Wewoka, Oklahoma, in February 1927.
Estelvste: African Creeks and the Creek Nation
Gary Zellar
The University of Oklahoma Press, 2006
