The point of my comment is that the contribution to the African-American stories from American Indian sources, and vice versa, is unknown. Not until the collectors and ethnographers made their studies could valid comparisons be made. It is logical to assume that the western Indian nations, because of fewer contacts, had stories that were more indigenous. The Seminoles left in Florida of as of Civil War times were a mixed group, mostly from farther north. The bulk of Seminole culture was moved west in the 1830s. Yes, the Indians that were moved to Indian Territory had contact with black slaves before 1830, and some even took their slaves with them. Absorption of tales probably went both ways. Stories were collected from southeastern groups; Chocktaws, Cherokees and others, but how much these were influenced by tales from their white and black contacts is problematical. The Choctaws were moved to the Territories in the 1830s, among the first to go down the Trail of Tears. By the 1840s, the tribes had schools and written constitutions; white ideas of schooling and literature became a part of their culture.