:hi:
I've been doing genealogical research for a number of years. I'm done with my father's side of the family and I have been hesitant to even begin to try to find out about my late mother.
I knew only a few things about her being she was adopted in 1925 by a white man married to a mixed-blood Indian woman in Louisiana. Her adoption records are located sealed in New Orleans. Luckily, these records were saved when Katrina hit. I wonder if they ever unseal them? Does anyone know?
I just found this link yesterday:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks-VA/BOOK-0001/bookindex.html The index has numerous surnames on it and among the names I found many that are mine. It seems that those on this list were mostly the Cherokee and Choctaw that survived the Trail of Tears.
So, now I know about who my mother really was, a descendent of the survivors of The Trail of Tears on both ends, mother and father alike (in fact possibly related to one another). It seems her great grandmother found still living in 1920 was a full-blooded Cherokee born abt. 1835 or so.
I am absolutely shocked/stunned by this finding. I had always suspected that my mother was part Indian but I never knew the story.
So now I know. I cannot begin to tell you how it makes me feel knowing this information. On one level I am happy to find out the truth at last and on another level I am infuriated knowing the history of the Indian tribes in Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana, Georgia and Arizona.
No wonder they never told my mother who she was. It was a great shame to be "Indian" in 1925 in the deep south where she was born. However, to me the shame should lie with those responsible for the horrific genocide that occurred that likely killed most of my ancestors.
Gee what a find huh? It only took me over 20 years to find this out (lots of lies, and big ones as you might guess that did a good cover-up job indeed).
Has anyone else found out anything like this about themselves that they never knew?
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