Hi, I'm Billie D. Merritt - a filmmaker born in Texas and raised in Oklahoma.

While working with genealogists to uncover my family's own stories of a mixed bloodline of Oklahoma Natives and Freedmen, stories lost through adoptions and survival - I began connecting these stories through historical research, which turned into something deeply grounding for me. Reconnection is a major theme of intention within my work.

This, not only within my own personal journey and generational healing, but with the intention to weave the common threads of humanity, and display them within the empathetic campfire of filmography, so that we may ALL see ourselves in one another's story.

I believe this is the strongest purpose of art in the time we currently live in: healing the great divides through vulnerable, aligned connection.

"BLOOD SO LARGELY MINGLED"

During the pandemic, I finally found time to dive into the book "Black Indians" by William Loren Katz. Ever since, I've been dreaming of bringing some of these largely unheard stories to life.

This script is inspired by true events of the largest slave rebellion in Indian Territory - The Webber Falls Uprising of 1842.

The title of this project came from the title of chapter 10 of Black Indians.

Colonization blurred and confused the lines of kinship within the 5 civilized tribes and the slaves they owned. Most residents of Turtle Island don't know about the differences between slavey for the American South and that of Indian territory.

During that era, whites who were married or born into tribal relations were cast into documented, and in some cases, well-respected roles within the community.

Regardless of some of the closer, familiar bonds that were developed from slavery within the 5 Civilized tribes, (regardless of Native blood quantum) Freedmen have faced issues with formal tribal enrollment and fierce discrimination.