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From: "Bette Richards" <>
Subject: resources
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 09:37:19 -0700


Dick Eastman's newsletter is out this week http://RootsForum.com. A couple
sites he mentioned look interesting.

http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/common/sitepages/reindex.asp has both
free and pay for data.

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/carolynegenealogy has some very good information
for people searching for Native American ancestors.

Speaking of Native Americans, did you know that it is the only race in the
world defined by membership in a political entity? The U.S. recognizes only
those who are enrolled in federally recognized tribes. That can be very
difficult. Every other race if you had an ancestor of that race you are a
recognized person of that race. With the Africans in America you can be
only very remotely descended from an African and recognized as such
(discriminated against because of it too). Not Native American. You can
get the discrimination all right by no recognition legally without that
membership. I am often asked what the blood quantum is for being recognized
by the government. Actually, the feds honor whatever quantum that the
tribes choose to use. In some tribes it is 1/4 and in some tribes it is
only people born or living on the reservation, others only the children of
the mother enrolled in the tribe may be enrolled, some only the children of
the father.

Canada is even more ridiculous. If you live on the Reserve you are
considered to be a full-blood. If you move off the Reserve you change into
a half-blood. If a white woman marries an Indian she becomes an Indian and
her children are considered full-bloods if they live on the Reserve. If an
Indian woman marries a white man she ceases to be an Indian and her children
are not considered Indians either. Some system.

Only your DNA will tell for sure if you are not enrolled in a tribe or
living on the Reserve but the government will not recognize that either.
Great fun trying to figure this out legally. When I was a lawyer on the
reservation, every case started out with defining if a party was Indian and
if the area where the action took place was on the reservation. After that
was settled we could determine which court had jurisdiction. Made for
interesting law and legal arguments.

Bette


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