Do you have Native American/Indigenous ancestry?

[Buzz Rules]

I am supposedly descended from the Lenni Lenape through my 4 or 5 times great grandma. She always claimed she was white according to the censuses I found. My great uncle said she was a full blooded Native American but I’m convinced she was half. Her mother had a mysterious past as documents were scarce. Her father was definitely white though. I unfortunately don’t have a picture of her though. My great uncle did offer me some evidence through a story that my grandpa did vaguely confirm (he was 5 or 6 at the time when it took place). My relatives are honest people and don’t bs family history so I tend to believe that’s it’s probably true. Supposedly some of my family was registered with the tribe, but I’m having trouble with finding the documents that would prove it. I’m not giving up though. The story I was told took place in the 1930’s, so I think the place I was told where the documents/reservation was might have moved in the last 80 years.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

On my dad's side, his grandmother (my g-grandmother) was Zuni. I've got 17% per Ancestry.com

 

[E&Cmom]

No. I am the first member of my family to be born in North America. My roots are European and Asian.

 

[SirDuff]

Not negative, no, and neither is indigenous. Both terms are used in some official contexts but the people do refer to themselves as "First Nations" and that's what you'll hear here in media, public speeches by politicians and the like. Slight difference in how it is here-to-there. The term "native" is seldom used, "Canadian Indian" is never used. Although they belong to "bands", not "tribes", their "tribal lands" are referred to as "reserves", not "reservations". I live 1/2 a mile from the largest urban reserve in Canada with over 12,000 residents. It's called the Tsuut'ina Nation. There's another large one, but more rural, about 25 miles east of the city called the Siksika Nation. Both peoples are descended from Plains Indians, and are various lineages of the Blackfoot band.

Just to clarify for others (I’m sure that you know, but the post may have confused others) that First Nations is a specific people under the umbrella of indigenous (which also includes Metis and Inuit); they are not two different words for the same people.

 

[ronandannette]

Just to clarify for others (I’m sure that you know, but the post may have confused others) that First Nations is a specific people under the umbrella of indigenous (which also includes Metis and Inuit); they are not two different words for the same people.

Yes, just so. For those who don’t know, Inuit, directly translated, means “the people”, which I find quite beautiful. The archaic term for them is Eskimo. I’m not sure if that term is still used in the US for northern Alaskans or not but in Canada it is considered derogatory.

Métis is a specific ethnic group descended from a mix of First Nations and either French, Scottish or English ancestors. I’m also not sure if that ethnic classification is used anywhere other than Canada.

Certainly neither group would consider themselves “First Nations” nor would they be referred to as such.

 

[easyas123]

Not a drop.

 

[design_mom]

I don't think I have any on my side, but I haven't really traced my geneology.

My mother-in-law grew up hearing that her 3x-great grandmother was a full-blooded native American (Choctaw, I think) and was disappointed when her DNA results showed only 3% Native American. However, I think 3% kind of tracks for a 3x-great grandparent.

 

[LovesTimone]

My family on both sides we have Native American heritage, which I was surprised to find out, through the search other family member have done... I haven't been tested or anything like that...

On my Mom's side -

Her Dad's family was all over the place and its a very large family it goes back generations, some went on the wagon trains, some were explorer's and fur trappers, farmers, ... Several of the men were married to Native American women, 2 girls were taken at some point, and raised with the Cherokee, they wed Native American men, and had families, my grandfather is descant of one of those women, children's... alot of info is not complete, So far we have found records as far back as the very late 1700's..

Her mom's family has been the hardest to find out, especially my grandmother mom... my cousin thought we knew, then she and I realized that things were not adding up, so we started over ,we scraped everything and began from the beginning ... and found out that she was of French descent not German as everyone thought... This side of the family we are now just 6 generations...

On my Dad's side

On his Dad's side - somewhere down the line, goes back to the very early 1800's - his great great grandfather's, father was married to a Native American woman, here's where things get slippery... the record show him being married twice in one year, and having 2 sons born the same year, to different women, and the birth recorded show no name for the women which is so hurtful that they had no names listed, just Shawnee woman and Black foot woman... so my cousin on this side is working on this going forward...

On his mom's side there is little to no information... So one of Dad's brothers is trying to find out... There are some old records date back to the early 1800, he just started this process, even with what he is found nothing makes any sense...

 

[Colleen27]

Well, I just did an ancestry DNA test and not a speck.

DNA is a weird thing, though; what you get isn't a proportional representation of what each of your parents got. I've traced my side of the family back to the "old country" (whichever that is) on every branch. I know that almost all of my father's paternal line came from Ireland, and I know the family roots there go back centuries though I've only started the foreign digging to document that in more detail. My Ancestry DNA profile reflects that pretty well. But my daughter's DNA analysis shows only a drop of Irish and that, according to their parental breakdown, comes from her father. My contribution is made up almost entirely of what I inherited from my mother's side.

 

[Mysterian]

Yes, on my Dad's side. My grandmother especially. I've not had a DNA test to find out how much (or how little) of that remains, since family records show there's more European background.

We were always told by my grandparents on my mom's side that we have some native American blood. The area is Machias, Maine where our ancestors came from.

Washington County, where Machias and UMaine’s titular regional campus is located, houses the largest percentage of Native Americans in Maine who are located primarily on the Passamaquoddy Tribal reservations of Indian Township and Pleasant Point.

I jchuckled when I saw Passamaquoddy as that is the town in the original Pete's Dragon! I actually thought is it was a made-up name until I did a little research.

MJ

My family and I are from Maine. My grandmother's ancestry is Penobscot.

 

[Buzz Rules]

My family on both sides we have Native American heritage, which I was surprised to find out, through the search other family member have done... I haven't been tested or anything like that...

On my Mom's side -

Her Dad's family was all over the place and its a very large family it goes back generations, some went on the wagon trains, some were explorer's and fur trappers, farmers, ... Several of the men were married to Native American women, 2 girls were taken at some point, and raised with the Cherokee, they wed Native American men, and had families, my grandfather is descant of one of those women, children's... alot of info is not complete, So far we have found records as far back as the very late 1700's..

Her mom's family has been the hardest to find out, especially my grandmother mom... my cousin thought we knew, then she and I realized that things were not adding up, so we started over ,we scraped everything and began from the beginning ... and found out that she was of French descent not German as everyone thought... This side of the family we are now just 6 generations...

On my Dad's side

On his Dad's side - somewhere down the line, goes back to the very early 1800's - his great great grandfather's, father was married to a Native American woman, here's where things get slippery... the record show him being married twice in one year, and having 2 sons born the same year, to different women, and the birth recorded show no name for the women which is so hurtful that they had no names listed, just Shawnee woman and Black foot woman... so my cousin on this side is working on this going forward...

On his mom's side there is little to no information... So one of Dad's brothers is trying to find out... There are some old records date back to the early 1800, he just started this process, even with what he is found nothing makes any sense...

My genealogy thread has some tips that may help.

 

[jecarnl]

Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole.

 

[Buzz Rules]

For people who have the Indigenous ancestry confirmed, have you done specific research on that culture to try to understand it more?

 

[MIGrandma]

Yes, my maternal grandfather was one quarter Native American, but that’s all I know. I should look further into it.

 

[CdnCarrie]

No I am descendent of settlers which is the current terminology.

 

[tvguy]

Okay, now I can delete it.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Yeah and then throw in Nationalities and you have a smorgasbord of conflicting heritage. My dad was born in China and moved to the U.S. as a 2 year old. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army and the night before he was shipped off to right the Germans, the Army discovered that legally, he was a GERMAN citizen. Next day, they called him in, had him raise his right hand and he was now a U.S. Citizen.......the first time he ever was in Germany was when he was fighting there.

I just want to point out, this post was not by me, so @tvguy, you might want to edit it.

 

[Buzz Rules]

No I am descendent of settlers which is the current terminology.

In the USA we say colonists.

 

[Skippy918]

not me. My ancestors are too new to the americas.

 

[tvguy]

I just want to point out, this post was not by me, so @tvguy, you might want to edit it.

It won't let me. I can erase the entire reply, but it leaves your name in as being quoted. Some odd things have been happening here with no pattern. Even got a note from someone about me quoting them........and I pointed out that it WAS something they posted, something they have no recollection of posting.

EDITED: Tried again, it won't even let me put the cursor up that high.