How to Research Your Native American Ancestors

Many people have oral history in their families which tell about an ancestor or ancestors who were of Indian heritage. Depending on how far back in their lineage the ancestor is chances are most information about that ancestor has been lost. Often all that remains is simply the knowledge that the person was Indian. If this is the case how do you begin your research?

You want to find out as much as you can about the ancestor in question. To begin finding out as much information as possible contact all your oldest relatives and ask them if they know anything about the ancestor. Have a list of questions ready. Try to discover what the surname is if possible, and any other information such as towns the person might have lived in, where and when the person was born, their parent’s names, and any stories they might know about the person’s life. All of these things can yield clues to the tribal identity of your ancestor.

Keep in mind when doing your research that back in the 18th and 19th centuries it was not necessarily a good thing to be Indian, it was not uncommon for someone who was Native American and trying to blend in to say they were black Irish, or French for example. So if you run across names which don’t sound like they would be “Indian” don’t be discouraged. It’s entirely possible you have an ancestor who went into hiding. Another thing to take into account is that there were mixed marriages, it’s possible your ancestor married a non-Indian and changed their name that way, or they themselves might not have been full-blooded but had a parent who was white and so they took their name. Something else that happened particularly in the 1800’s when Indians were being removed to reservations is that white bureaucracy would give Indians white first and last names because they couldn’t pronounce the Native ones.

So, now you have a surname, maybe a few stories related to the ancestor and possibly where they were born or where they lived. All of these things can yield good results if you know where to look. Now what do you do?