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Maude says>>>> my grandmas papers said that Blackfeet blood came from NC, which would be the old Saponi.
I’m sorry. I took that statement to mean there was a document in existence that used the term “blackfoot” to refer to an eastern tribe.
You ask how you can be a part of this group. You first need to understand who we are and what we are about. My suggestion is to go to Saponitown home page and read the article on “the other blackfoot”. (There are other articles and links of interest also.) Also use the forum search feature to search the term “blackfoot cherokee” Please note that we share no cultural or genealogical heritage with the western blackFEET. Our heritage is souian and we are 500 years removed from the western sioux.
Then, go to “forums home” click on “share genealogy research” and post what family info you have on those born before 1930…. all the complete names and dates that you have. There IS a paper trail on everybody …. and our resident genealogy guru, Bill Childs, has a gift for finding it 😉
Also browse the “share history research” forum. I daresay there is no other source on-line with the database that we share at Saponitown. Happy hunting 😉
Hi there, these are very exicting times, some of the things happening right now are good things, some are terrible things.
This has been a busy week for me, the decision agains the mixed blood Utes, the Northern Peyquate, the play about the relationship with the mixed blood grandchildren of the buffalo children, explaining the truth about the buffalo chidren to non-indian people, having dialogue across tribal lines with folks on issues that are affecting indian country, all has been exhausting. Plus I still haven’t figured out how to use the genealogical forum yet. Does anyone know anything about hotels in the area of the conference in April? It is in what my Wamponoag friend tells me is the heart of Lumbee country[I]:D
Hello there, since I am so bad at figuring my way around this site, I just thought I would put this info here, the conference has been changed from the 13.14 to the 20,21(910) 521-6895
jay.vest@uncp.edu. This is the contact person. Dr. Jay Vest. Hope to see some of you there
This is an interesting topic to me. My family (Webb surname) is native, and looks native–we have always identified as being such. We have the oral history saying this, but no affiliation or documentation. We are from Wilson/ Rocky Mount/ Saratoga NC area.
Whats funny is that I have been told that we are Cherokee (Which I partly discard because we are from the wrong area and every “wannabe” is Cherokee) and Blackfoot in addition to Tuscaora and Sioux that I’ve heard…. I’m just looking for solid info. I’ve never paid attention to the blackfoot claim because there is no connection to the Blackfeet/ blackfoot out west.
I honestly don’t think there ever was a connection, at least in the last 500+ years. If this is something that is common enough then there must be some sort of language issue involved. Maybe the name the people called themselves translated to Blackfoot, or the whites called them that, or any number of things.
Is there any material evidence whatsoever for this label? Does the name appear anywhere in print? I can’t believe that if it is legitimate that there is no substantial evidence. There has to be something conserdering the number of people who appear to claim this origin.
Dave,
Try reading the article on the home page here.
If you read the whole web site (take a month’s vacation to do it), you will find that many of us have the same story. My story also is Blackfoot Cherokee, but this ggggrandmother came from western PA near Pittsburgh, marryin a white Irishman whose brother also married a native woman with the story Blackfoot Cherokee, and moving to join another mixed group from Ohio. This mixed group originated in southern MD, moves to the panhandle of WV, then Ohio and finally Iowa. This WV group is turning out to be at least some Shawnee (and I have Webb marrying into this WV group in Ohio.) .
Linda, who originated this web site, theorizes that the name originates from from a Siouan translation of Blackfoot. Saponi1 indicates that, while the main Cherokee body was farther south, some of those NA living in the mountain areas of VA were known as some kind of Cherokee. I am not remembering her term right now but you can search for her postings. Linda has spoken with someone who, during research, found the term Blackfoot in print, but cannot remember where. No one here has found it yet.
I believe that there is a story among the western Sioux that they once lived east. The language of the Tutelo (Eastern Siouan tribe) is very similar to Lakota Sioux.
Anyway, there are a lot of us with the same story, so there has to be something to it. There was a DE town called Blackfoot Town, named after NA who lived there at one time (lots of my surnames are in DE) and a cemetery and church in Pike County, IN called Blackfoot Church and Blackfoot Cemetery, named after NA who were once there. I traced one or two families who originate near Blackfoot Town, have the Blackfoot rumor in the family, and are buried in Blackfoot Cemetery.
Welcome. Those of us with the Blackfoot ID are trying to determine the source of the term.
Techteach
It sounds like there is a good deal of compiling evidence on this subject. I read Linda’s essay and it was great. This really explains a lot about my family. I would like to see if my genealogy can somehow substantiate this connection. Most of my dad’s family looks very native, and lives in that area- they seem to always have lived there. They also ID as Blackfoot, which I always objected to. I feel bad for this now. I could be years ahead in my reasearch if I knew that there might be something to this. I think that som of the best connections might come from the Ohio Saponi if they do indeed call themselves Blackfoot.
This is great!
Here is the page I mentioned a while ago about the ‘blackfoot’ ID. It was under the title ‘Triracials of the Upper South’. I don’t know how on target DeMarce’s information is…I think she’s the one who blasted B. Kennedy’s book on Melungeons. This is the only reference I’ve found to the blackfoot ID outside of Saponi Town. I did find a reference to “Negrofoot” as a location in VA while looking through census records, too. Don’t know if it’s relevant.
The article is at:
http://hometown.aol.com/angelaw859/tri_racials.html
I hope I do not offend anyone here in saying this, but I do not believe that the Blackfoot ID signified triracial, unless it was a result of the kind of racial classifying that Plecker did. And it seems that since my family continued NA customs well into the mid-1900s, that does not seem likely, given that my ancestor was rumored to have strongly identified with her NA background. My DNA results did not include African American, only European and NA. And my gggrandmother is buried beneath a stone reading Blackfoot Indian with the family rumor of Blackfoot Cherokee. She was born in around 1814 near Pittsburgh.
Techteach
I wouldn’t think that it was blacks that could only claim this ancestry. I did think it was significant that many did make the claim to have Blackfoot blood–it had to come from somewhere in the south.
Yes, there are people with the eastern Blackfoot ID who are mixed with white, some with black, some with both. It’s an Indian identity that’s persisted whatever else it was mixed with that this culture seemed to believe would negate it.
I certainly concur with both you, Red Metis, and you, Linda. Sheer numbers with this NA ID in their family says something, regardless of the ethnic combination.
Techteach
Hey! I concur as well. You know, Techteach, my mother’s family too practiced their ways well into the 1900’s as well. My mom once told me of woven mats her and her siblings slept on, on the floor. I wish I knew what materials they were woven out of though. But, at any rate, the ID is certainly comprised of all races, some more of one race than another perhaps. Between us all though, we definately have a little bit of everything. Love & Light, Lynella.
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