Satan or Nature? You Have the Freedom to Decide

From a wealthy English family, John Winthrop became involved in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 after King Charles went after unconventional religions. Including the Puritans. So, Winthrop gathered Puritans to leave England and settle in the New World. He kept a journal and in it (if you have the patience to read it), you’ll find an entry about watching a mouse fight with a snake. The mouse won. A Boston pastor, Mr. Wilson said the mouse was the poor contemptable people and the snake was the devil. It was about overcoming Satan.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:

Native American Ancestors… North, South or Word of Mouth

A few years back, archeologists discovered that a baby boy buried in Montana 12,600 years ago, confirms that his ancestors descended from Asia. His DNA also revealed he was more directly related to Native people living in Central and South America, than Canadian Native people. When the DNA testing company first informed me that I showed Native genomes, they said it was related to the Native people of the south. Then later, they changed their mind and said it was related to the Canadian north.

Whether they tell you that you have no Native DNA, but you’ve been told differently, or they change it up, like they did to me, hang in there. The science will advance and give us many of the answers we seek. Or you can choose to be steadfast and believe your family’s oral history.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:

Gossiping Neighbors Who Have Power Over Your Freedom

Back in 1779, there was a man who traded with the Indians. It seems he bought and sold things. A wheeler dealer who had a myriad of women in his life. Native women, Black women, slaves, wives, daughters, granddaughters, mistresses, and daughters and granddaughters of these mistresses. He appears to have been quite fond of some of them and left orders to free one of his enslaved relatives upon his death. Although slaves had no “legal standing,” they could be given their freedom as a gift. But, if the deceased’s estate were in debt, the gift of freedom could be denied and the slave sold instead, to help pay for the debts. I believe the young woman received her freedom but the legality of it came into question later, due to gossiping neighbors.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:

Native American Genealogy… “Practicing Native Culture.”

When analyzing the trails our Native American ancestors took, perhaps the answers to if, when, where and why, lie in a phrase that echoes the sentiments of President Andrew Jackson:

… any eastern Indians who want to remain a member of a tribe and practice a native culture should move beyond the Mississippi.

By the time of the Trail of Tears, Native people were beaten down. There must have been a myriad of reasons why our Native ancestors took that sorrowful trek. Other than having no other option, remaining a member of a tribe and continuing to practice their culture, must have been at the top of their list.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:

1827… Another Native American Removal Decision

Many of us see Illinois on our family trees as we look for Native ancestry. In 1827, the government made the decision to remove all Indians from Illinois. It was to take two years. Of course, the territory was already home to the Native people known as Illiniwek, or the Illini. Meaning best people. French explorers encountered them in the late 1600s, but it was the United States Federal Government who removed them. Today, your ancestors may appear on records as being Cherokee but before the government forcefully consolidated tribes, they may have belonged to another tribe. Perhaps the Illini.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:

Genealogy…Be Suspicious of Family Branches with No Roots

Just because a branch of your family tree has a European look, don’t assume they’re not native to American soil, as in Native Americans. There are many reasons why there’s no history showing for them but if you were told that surname has Native roots, keep digging. Compare the dates of their migrations to those of government removals. The territory they left behind and the territory they went to. Great-great-grandpa may have given his German surname to his Native wife, making the matriarchal line, your best use of research time.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:

Frizzy, Beautiful Hair

We all have different hair. Mine is straight. I love to get into moist climates, so a little frizz and curl comes out. I also enjoy the waves and kinks that braids give me when I shake them loose. Some people with naturally curly hair, enjoy straightening it. Hair is empowering. It reveals our health, our ethnicity, our mood, our sense of fashion. No matter the texture of our hair, it takes a lot of courage to break from our comfort zone and don the do that we really want. When it comes to letting our hair express our innermost feelings, take a cue from the 1960s and “let your freak flag fly.” Rapunzel, Rapunzel. Let down your hair!

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:

Looking For Native Ancestry?

The Trail of Tears moved Natives to Oklahoma. Oklahoma was the new Indian Country. But where had these Natives come from? At the time of the “treaty,” they had been living in: North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. The lands that they were forced to give up were their native lands. The 1835 registry lists 16,000 Cherokees. If you’re having trouble finding your ancestral trails, and they were from North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, or Alabama, maybe they were Natives who were able to avoid being removed.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:

Their Names Were Not “Sundry”

In 1838, slave owners petitioned North Carolina officials to help them solve a dispute. They had “sundry negro slaves” that they wanted divided between three owners. I have never heard of any human ever referred to as sundry. I thought in those days, sundry was needles, thread, string, the sort of things we use in everyday life. Anything but people. So, I looked up synonyms for sundry. They are various and miscellaneous. Makes it pretty hard for folks to trace their ancestry when in 1838 they were thought of in this way. Here is the entry:

Northampton County, North Carolina. Joint owners of “sundry negro slaves” now in the hands of Nicolas Edmund, three slave owners ask that commissioners be appointed “to divide the said negroes.”

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:

Genealogy… Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees

It’s reported that eighty-three percent of Native American school-aged children were in boarding schools by 1926. This is a very late date. Late enough to still be affecting us. Any Native-descended parents and grandparents, KNEW the truth about the government STILL removing children from their homes. This may be the reason why you were not informed about your ethnicity. Parents who could keep their Native American ancestry a secret from the government and certain churches, perhaps did so to protect their children from removal.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees: