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I have run into several Richey families who claim an ancestor who was “Blackfoot”. I’ve run into others who claim their ancestors were “Tuckahoe” Indians.
I looked up a little on “Tuckahoe” and discovered it was a costal tubor eaten from NY to the Carolinas. In fact poor White indentured servants were sometimes called “Tuckahoes” as well as mixed blood folks and Indians.
My Richey’s in Va first we know of them, & later were in Indiana for a couple of decades (1810s-1830s) and other Richey’s we can’t find any relationship to also migrated there. Later my Richey’s went to Arkansas and a couple of them (g-g-grandpa and his brother) were enslaved there (1850 & 60 censuses). One of those other Richey’s was married to a Sichy Collings Richey and I was wonderin’ if that was the same as Collins. Just wonderin’.
have any of yall heard of “Tuckahoe Indians”? Son of Doublehead (famous Chickamauga chief)was named “Tuckahoe”.
vance hawkins
Vance,
Collins Collings, and Collens are usually the same. Almost all of my early Collins made their mark ( X ) Very few could read or write. It came down to whomever was filling out the paperwork for them and how they spelled it. My grandfather only had a three grade education. He could write but very poorly. Before him ggrandpa Richard, gggrand pa John nor Meredith Collins could read or write. In fact I have seen records with Meredith spelled many ways. I have my doubts that Meredith was actually his name as the early records spell his name as “Meridia” . On his enlistment record for Captain James McDaniel’s Fincastle militia Company he was listed as Meridia Collens. My grandpa Ervin spelled his name Collings but some of his own brothers spelled their name Collins.
As for Tuckahoe…I have heard of it but figured it was a slang for another branch of a tribe.
Brenda
[This message has been edited by Brenda Collins Dillon (edited 11-15-2001).]
Hello Vance. My first thought was to wonder if Tuckahoe was a corruption of Tutelo. Are those Richey families you say you’ve run into, are they you’re family? Sad twist them getting caught up in slavery so late in the game out in Arkansas. 1810 is awful early for settlers in Indiana isn’t it? I thought the earliest settlers were in Ohio was 1810’s. Maybe this will tell you something.
Thank you all for being here, yes I have this oral tradition of “Blackfeet Cherokees” in my family but we are not related to the local people prior to 1980, any way this has been a real twist in my families oral history. To be short our family of Hardins and Cary’s left TN and went to Wisconsin prior to 1860 and eventually moved into the midwest by 1880 or so, and on to Canada, would the hosts please respond to this posting, Thank you Tom.
By local people, do you mean your neighbors in Alberta? Do you know where in Wisconsin they were? I’m not familiar with those surnames, though we’ve heard of enough Blackfoot in TN.
Osiyo, Re. my families history, as far as I was told as a youth we were Cherokee from the usa. After years of gen. research and looking up my mothers aunt and uncle who sticking to the materilineal aspects of family only the womens side of the family knew of our ancestory. My 1st cousin whom I’ve never met said my aunt told her that she was “blackfoot Cherokee” SOMETHING THAT IS FOUND IN THE OLDER MEMORIES of our family history. However the Blackfoot side is not as well known as the Cjherokee side and the sir names are all very old going back to the 1820s for sure. ,also the Ocaneechi peoples communities in Indiana and Ohio were once apart of our families history atleast the Indiana groups, once a cousin said to look near this groups location to start the search. Yes I mean the local Blackfoot Blood and Peigan indian people not more than 20 miles from here. Our families lived in Orange co. INdiana and moved on to the Racine wisconsin areas and had owned very well known sites in that area, from there some moved into Iowa and Nebraska and then on to Canada where they inter married with the locals here, remeber Tn was the jumping off point into the Midwest, Thanks again Tom..
Very interesting. My mother’s family settled in Vernon County, WI about 1860 and she told us we were Blackfoot. There are a number of people in that county who applied in 1913 or so for the Cherokee rolls. They were denied, since they were not Cherokee, but families from Granville County, NC, the next county over from Person County, with similar surnames, I believe, to the Person County Indians (state recognized, Saponi). Anyway, the situation meant that a lot of genealogical data on them was preserved.
I just searched through emails I have from the genealogist/historian who told me about the documented Vernon County Indians. He said this, “I notice that one of the Basses–one of Elijah’s sons–later moved up to
northern Minnesota and got involved with NA groups up there; this is just alluded to, not really explained, in the applications.”
He also told me that Indiana was a mecca for NC mixed race or Indian people at one point. There’s a book out by Steven Vincent, a professor at U.Wisconsin SOUTHERN SEED, NORTHERN SOIL on the settlements in Indiana. Apparently there’s a big treasure trove of data on them too in the National Archives in Washington related to the Cherokee applications in 1910’s. Roberts is the central name there.
Could your family have applied also? If they were being categorized as white at that point, they probably wouldn’t have, but if classified as non-white, they may have done so.
Any of this sound helpful? Have you seen the article I wrote, linked on the first page of this site, about the “Other Blackfoot?” I’d be interested in your thoughts.
To answer some questions —
in 1846 a treaty was signed tellin all “Cherokees” — and Indians I presume — to leave Arkansas and were given a one year term to do it. I have also been told by those who have looked at the Dawes records that some Arkansas Cherokee who came to Oklahoma said the reason their ancestors came here (I live in Oklahoma, as have my ancestors since the days of the Chickasaw Nation, where my grandparents were married) — I was told a main reason many Arkansas Cherokee came to Oklahoma, as recorded in Dawes, was a “fear of the slaver”.
Recently I discovered a Richey in Virginia who it was mentioned was “sold” as Indentured Servant — but I really don’t know what that means. I’m hopin maybe I can tie my ancestors to his somehow . . . both had the surname Richey & that’s all I can know at present — may not be related, tho, I don’t know.
My Richey’s mixed in Ar with Cherokees (Brown’s, Guess, & Looney families) and later came to Indian Territory, Chickasaw Nation and we can prove it, but we are not on Dawes. But the Richey link to Saponey isn’t very good, only I found others online who said their Richey (various spellings) ancestors said they were “Blackfoot”. I’ll write them (e-mail) and tell them about this website, soon.
My ancestors are in Indiana by 1810s. I guess that was pretty early, but My Wayland ancestors were in Arkansas about the same time. Wood’s and Richey’s both married into one another’s families in Virginia and in Indiana and in Arkansas and in Kentucky.
vance hawkins
Hello Linda, you are really sparking my interest in all of this, my grandmother was born in Hubbard co. Minnesto in 1909! I don’t know if any of our family filed for enrollment in Oklahoma but on my grandmothers sid her grandmother and uncle went to Kansas to live on a reserve there and then went on to Shawnee ok. but they left and moved to Wyoming and had a large tract of land there. This women sir name of Williams was born in Indiana aswell but I haven’t done any work on her side of the family.The branch of my family that went to WI. was id.ed as black 1850-60, mullato 1870-80 and white by 1900, rather cute! On the Indiana census blacks and mulattoes were not supposed to be enumerated but our family was? I wonder how many families were mixed but economically could hold thier own against oppression? our family often had boarders by the name of Diggs and Colley ,also in Indiana the name of Rberts and Hardin often showed up in simalar situations. I believe that many of the early Hardin people were of mixed race white on the fathers side and aboriginal on thier mothers side, the Hardin family assc. from Crewe Va. might be of some help on this. best to all Tom.
There’s a book online that has a list of the people who applied for the Cherokee rolls and were denied. I’ll have to look for info on that link. Does anybody know? Can’t remember where I heard that at the moment.
Your family, edstp, sounds so much like mine. They were poor in Wisconsin, but they held their own, took in borders, too. I’d be interested in how much native blood both you and Vance estimate you have. It sounds like you have more than most Southeatern NDN descended people who made it out that far.
Hello Linda, well I’m not to sure about he blood quantum thing, if you look into history ie John Ross, Louis Riel etc they had very little “indian blood” but had loyalties to thier home people and commiunitites. I was told that my great grandmother was a full blodd Cherokee,she was very much non-white, and there was other tribes and peoples there I’m sure. She married into a family of people of simalar origins so our families have both dark skinned and light skinned people , I fall somewhere between,my dental records don’t support what I’m supposed to look like.In our family for generations the house has always belonged to the women not the man and when there is a split the men leave. Also on rather odd occurence that may hint to the Tutelo spirit adoption ceremony,happened after a death in the family, not enough time here to get into it but will one day, alos there are family names that have folk etymologies to the Overhill and Tugalo Cherokees. The Blackfoot issue I’m sure is from the Carolinaas not Tn. etc. I did read your article on the Blackfoot, I think that it is the only logical answer and it confermed one issue in my research that I don’t have to check into, but all of the tribal names from the Carolina areas need to be translated into English since many will have a bearing on other families and tribes. I would like to hear more about your families history and where they lived it sounds like there was a large community of our people that moved into WI. and areas so much for now , looking forward to hearing from you again Tom.
I found this paragraph in Ron Haithcock’s compilation, not sure who wrote it, but it coincides with what I was alluding to above about the Roberts settlement in Hamilton County, Indiana
In 1832 another colony of black people settled in Hamilton County, Indiana. Known as the Roberts Settlement, it was made up of Cherokee and blacks forced to leave Northampton County, North Carolina, during the Indian Removal. In Indiana, the group built log houses, a church and school. By the time of the Civil War this community had produced its share of doctors, teachers and soldiers. Its records are preserved in a manscript collection at the Library of Congress. Along the Atlantic coast, Native Americans were transformed into a biracial people.
Yoohoo, Crystal, had you seen this? More of your Northampton County cousins. “Cherokees” indeed. Yeah, right. (Northampton County, NC is directly below Brunswick Co, VA, where Fort Christanna was. Way to far east to expect any Cherokee.) We should plan a field trip to DC. You’ve got people all over the place to look up in the archives. I’d like to poke around the Vernon County records.
Okay, on another page in Haithcock’s compilation, in Ross County, Ohio, 1840 Census, he lists a Philip Ritchy. I had kin there in Union Township. I’m not sure what it means to be on this list. I imagine he’s gleaning the names of fpc or black people???
Hello, those records that you mention sound very interesting, probably more informative that any other records that I can think of, I have some civil war records that were very valuable in regards to where my family moved to. One Cousin said that in Omaha and Council Bluff, there was a large commnity in those towns that were made up of simalar people with what you might call a “community focus”.I have heard that there is some “Blackfoot” people in Ontario, they may be related to the Saponi and Tutelo that moved there or they could be from the boarding school era, and are people from this area of southern Alberta. Has anyone heard from these folks,yet? Can anyone tell me if there is any artists or tradtional craft people left from the Sisspaha peoples? Also one issue to look at is how food and the like is prepared,often these methods of doing things are not explained as to thier origins just ” this is how we do it” is all I was told when it came to smoking fish,meat, and trapping was the same. When I showed my late Mom the pictures that John lawson or White drew she said ” that’s how we do it”. This picture was showing people sitting beside a small frame with portions of animals on it! Any way these are the “things” that need to be looked for that would provide cultural links to the past, has anyone started such a study? Lastly! Does anyone out there know of any people descended from the Orange Co.IN.community that may have photos of the members from there? Take care Tom.
Orange County, NC is one of the counties mentioned in conjunction with the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi. I believe you’ll find photos on their site, if they’re still up. They’re good friends of those of us in the NC/VA area. Our family sings with Eastern Bull Drum, which often is host Drum at Pow Wows that John Blackfeather emcees. He’s former chairperson, still a mover and shaker with the OBSN.
http://www.occaneechi-saponi.org/home.shtml
There are some of us making an effort to re-kindle the old arts and skills. I would love to see you document here whatever details you can think of that may be relevant. If you have any photos you’d like to publish here, send them to me, and I’ll put them up for you.
I think any Blackfoot identification in Canada may refer to the “regular” Blackfoot, though it could be some of the Saponi who “disappeared” from history after reaching Niagara.
I need to refresh my memory on those details. I’ve seen a list of people thought to be NC Indians up in New York, one name was Eno, which I see in Vernon County, WI. It’s an unusual name, and known to be used as a surname by Saponi people. The Eno would be the closest band to the Sissipaha village, so logically you’d expect them to be calling themselves Blackfoot if the theory holds.
Does anybody have an Ancestry.com membership who can search on the Eno surname?
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