Indian Genealogy

We receive many emails a day asking if Smith, Tucker, Akee and many more are Indian names. My first answer "how would I know," then I stop and think they are probably newbies just beginning to explore their ancestry. Then the ones saying "my grandmother was an Indian Princess." Other than a Hollywood movie, and I am not sure I even heard an Indian women called a Princess on the screen, they used "Squaw". Webster, defines a Princess as a member of a royal family, the consort of a Prince." Was there an Indian Prince? Lastly, we have a picture of great grandmother and she looks just like an Indian. I am not sure I know what an Indian looks like, many tribes have many different features, you can't lump them all together.

Researching your Indian Genealogy is no different then researching your other ancestry. Start with your self and work you way back, no short cuts! Meaning someone in the family said you were related to Sacagawea, so start with her and work you way forward. Then you are using someone else's work and how do you know they were correct?

People do genealogy for several reasons, myself it's just because I want to know who came before me. Please try Beginning Genealogy, very basic steps to get you started. Keep in mind, along the way you will find information you don't like, none of our families were and are perfect. These stories of my ancestors makes the search more interesting. In the process of your search you will also learn about your country's history.

There are some additional facts you need to know in researching your Indian Ancestry:

Name of the person
Name of the person's federally-recognized tribe
Approximately when the person lived
What state or territory the person lived in

Name:	Today we don't think about our name, our parents gave it to us. Many of our Indian ancestors had only one name. Their surname name was given to them, by agents of the US Government or chosen from a list. Unlike the immigrants to Ellis Island, they were given little choice in their names. If you look at the 1817 Reservation Roll, you will see that many people on that list did not have two names. It would be difficult to prove relationship to anyone on this roll unless your family provided well documented information. Most of the tribes only had an oral history. I am not saying you can't find them or don't try, but we are talking about 188 years of research.
Tribe:	There are 500 plus Indian Tribes today, years ago there were more. If you know approximately where the ancestor lived, you can consult The Indian Tribes of North America by John R. Swanton. It provides information about the tribes, sub-tribes, bands, etc. which lived in each state. Handbook of American Indians by Frederick W. Hodge describes over 800 tribes of the United States, many no longer in existence. A Google search will find many good books written on individual tribes.
Timeline:	Determining when your ancestor lived has always been difficult to answer. As a general rule subtract 20 years to your birth date to determine that of your parents. Using the year 1941 as your birth year, your parents would be around 1921, grandparents 1901, and gggrandparents 1881. Future generations will find this more difficult with the number of people who are waiting until later in life to start a family. Likewise many of our ancestors were married at a much younger age. Using the above dates, I would read the 1930, 1920, 1900 and 1880 census looking for ancestors. The 1900 Indian Territory Census is available for searching, the first year Indians were clearly listed. For one reason or another many Indian ancestors hid from the census takers. Census Rules are some instructions given to census takers, please read the interesting instructions.
Residence:	Indian tribes moved freely across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Many had winter and summer residences. More were removed by the US Government to lands far away from their homes. Indian Tribes of North America is an outstanding source of information for determining where many tribes lived. Books on Indian Movement: Southern Contacts of the Indians North of the Gulf of Mexico provides information on tribes of Mexico. Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi, life on the prairies or mountains with the best built house had to be hard for our ancestors, but consider the Indians of the1800's. Tribal Migrations East of the Mississippi, the tribal movements east of the Mississippi in prehistoric times. History of Indian Missions in the United States, the areas of California, Southern States, Middle Atlantic States, New England States, Interior States, The Columbia Region, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Alaska. Kansas and Kansans (History of many of the tribes of Kansas) Notes on the Creek Porter was at one time head chief of the Creek Nation and Perryman probably accompanied him as his "interpreter", though both appear to have been able to speak and write English, and most of these notes were originally written down by them. Indian Reservations, 1908 A listing by state of Indian Reservations of the US. Southeastern United States Indian Research by Jackie Matte, researching your Indian Ancestors in the Southeastern US. How to Search, These pages are meant as a guide for researching you Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole ancestors, also known as the Five Civilized Tribes.