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My ggg-grandmother Mary stumped me for the longest time. She died when my grandmother was 13. She told my grandmother that her maiden name was Lealiwall (the spelling is a guess) and that she was partially Native American. I spent almost a year trying to track the name down (and figuring out to spell it) until I found an obituary for a man who turned out to be her step-brother, and learned that her maiden name was actually Sturgis.
Her parents have standard European names (William Sturgis and Mary Stevens). I can't imagine why she would give my grandmother a false surname. Can anyone offer some direction? My family all assumes we're "part" Native American because of her, but none of the information Mary gave adds up.
Honestly, does she even look Native American? She's the older woman in the middle.
I think far more people claim Indian blood than actually have it. Seems like everybody you talk to from south of the Ohio claims Cherokee blood. Given the intense hatred southern Americans had for Indians I find that unlikely. But a few generatons later after the Indians have long been removed to Kansas and Oklahoma the notion of having Indian ancestors sounds kind'a romantic.
I think far more people claim Indian blood than actually have it. Seems like everybody you talk to from south of the Ohio claims Cherokee blood. Given the intense hatred southern Americans had for Indians I find that unlikely. But a few generatons later after the Indians have long been removed to Kansas and Oklahoma the notion of having Indian ancestors sounds kind'a romantic.
As we've been discussing in the thread on slavery, racism existed and exists in all regions of the country. Revisionist white northerners want to claim their stuff doesn't stink, and it's just not so. Northerners killed the natives they didn't remove. All white settlements, north and south, were taking over the natives' homeland, after all. So from Maine to Florida there were occasions when the natives attacked and killed whites. There were times whites responded in kind. Btw my ancestors were northerners, including Ohio, until recently in American history.
Crimeny, a simple question about Indian ancestry has devolved into a Southerners are the devil, no Northerners are the devil argument. Why?
Shouldn't that be taken to the "Great Debates" forum, and left out of genealogy?
To the OP. Don't presume that she was given a "false" surname. Names are simply something someone was known by. That includes surnames. She may have taken a step-parent's surname. She may have had a marriage you didn't know about. William Sturgis & Mary Stevens may not be the parents to whom she was born. Who knows.
Don't be lulled into thinking you can know anything about ancestry from a surname. You can't. They may hint at it, but you have to prove it. And that's not always easy to do. To prove it, you need some definitive records. Unless she was enrolled in a tribe, there may not be a record. Census records may indicate Indian ancestry -- though, not always. I've also seen Indians called black in records. There were special Indian censuses.
I see from posts I assume are yours, elsewhere on the internet, that she was in Indiana. I just have to say that the odds of her having much Indian ancestry are minimal. If she was in a frontier area, it'd be more likely.
My ggg-grandmother Mary stumped me for the longest time. She died when my grandmother was 13. She told my grandmother that her maiden name was Lealiwall (the spelling is a guess) and that she was partially Native American. I spent almost a year trying to track the name down (and figuring out to spell it) until I found an obituary for a man who turned out to be her step-brother, and learned that her maiden name was actually Sturgis.
Her parents have standard European names (William Sturgis and Mary Stevens). I can't imagine why she would give my grandmother a false surname. Can anyone offer some direction? My family all assumes we're "part" Native American because of her, but none of the information Mary gave adds up.
Honestly, does she even look Native American? She's the older woman in the middle.
I don't believe this is a picture of your ggg-grnadmother. Try dating the photograph and the other people in it. This looks like a photo taken in the early to mid 20th century.
If she is your maternal GGG-granmother perhaps a DNA test will shed some light.
My ggg-grandmother Mary stumped me for the longest time. She died when my grandmother was 13. She told my grandmother that her maiden name was Lealiwall (the spelling is a guess) and that she was partially Native American. I spent almost a year trying to track the name down (and figuring out to spell it) until I found an obituary for a man who turned out to be her step-brother, and learned that her maiden name was actually Sturgis.
Her parents have standard European names (William Sturgis and Mary Stevens). I can't imagine why she would give my grandmother a false surname. Can anyone offer some direction? My family all assumes we're "part" Native American because of her, but none of the information Mary gave adds up.
Honestly, does she even look Native American? She's the older woman in the middle.
If you want to know if you have indian blood..........look in the mirror. I'm told that's what they are doing on the reservations these days what with all the white guys pretending to be indians.
My ggg-grandmother Mary stumped me for the longest time. She died when my grandmother was 13. She told my grandmother that her maiden name was Lealiwall (the spelling is a guess) and that she was partially Native American. I spent almost a year trying to track the name down (and figuring out to spell it) until I found an obituary for a man who turned out to be her step-brother, and learned that her maiden name was actually Sturgis.
Her parents have standard European names (William Sturgis and Mary Stevens). I can't imagine why she would give my grandmother a false surname. Can anyone offer some direction? My family all assumes we're "part" Native American because of her, but none of the information Mary gave adds up.
Honestly, does she even look Native American? She's the older woman in the middle.
The only way to know for sure is to first know what Nation she is supposedly from. Once you know that, then you check tribal rolls for her name or names of her ancestors if she was not enrolled at any time. Other than that, you are going on speculation or family stories, of which, neither is proof. If she was indeed native and she married into a white family before reservation times for whatever nation she is supposedly from, you may be hard pressed to find any documentation.
As to Natives having Euro surmanes, this actually was not all that uncommon, especially among the Eastern tribes who had earlier contact with and were displaced by the whites.
If you want to know if you have indian blood..........look in the mirror. I'm told that's what they are doing on the reservations these days what with all the white guys pretending to be indians.
growing up I remember lots of blond haired blue eyed white kids claiming to be part Indian
Heinz 57 Indians do not count
I feel a person should be at least 1/2 native american to claim American Indian / native american, etc
a Mexican has more native blood than your typical white guy that claims he's native american
some people from Mexico look identical to full blood native americans
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