With a title like that I should probably post about marijuana abuse at renfests, but I shall save that until I have some experience or at least observation regarding the topic.
No, today I speak of the odd quest I have, almost obsession, with proving my Native American Lineage.
Here's the problems:
My family really didn't keep much in the way of records.
Native Americans didn't necessarily have records.
Geneaology is hard (after a point)
and
I'm lazy.
My obsessiveness is interesting. You give me a possible lead (say, "that's buried in the Dawes.") and I'll pursue it through 400 pages, and I'll go back to double check.
But it takes me about 2 years since I seriously started looking for proof of my ancestory to bother finding out what the requirements for joining a tribe are.
Turns out they're pretty simple (for the Cherokee... I hear other tribes are different). Have an ancestor on the Dawes. The Dawes Roll, named after the Senator that oversaw its production, lists the names of a bunch of Indians that bothered to show up. It was supposed to be everyone in the "civilized tribes", but what are the odds?
At any rate, I've got one. The hard part now is proving it. I'm no where near where most of my family is, so mostly I have to wait until they provide paperwork, near as I can tell. I can poke them, prode, whine, cajole, and possibly bribe... but I can't walk down to the department of records and get stuff. I'm also pretty broke right now (a good reason to continue my quest... I want help going to school). It should put me at something like 1/32, which is low... but it might be enough.
Thoughts?
2 Kommentare:
I'm 1/16 Shawnee and haven't registered. Should, but would require my dad and his dad registering... *Sigh*
Hello, I want to meet some other local people who, like me, are interested in tango. I've found this site (tango). Are there any other ways of meeting similar people?
Many thanks
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