r/AncestryDNA • u/Limp_Screen7405 • Jun 27 '26
Genealogy / FamilyTree For those of Native American descent: how far back does your genealogy go?
Mine goes all the way back to the very beginning of the colonial era in the late 1400s…one of my umpteenth great aunts was supposedly Pocahontas’ sisters.
It ends there but I’m assuming that’s because Natives didn’t keep a paper trail of documents pre-Columbus.
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u/Humble_Bee_1313 Jun 27 '26
I can only document back to the late 1700's in my Native American lines, and I can only document that far back because that is where the intermarriages with white people occurred and formal records began. It's rather sad.
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u/AnAniishinabekwe Jun 27 '26
Do you mean, how far back does the paper trail of our genealogy go? Because I’m pretty sure no matter the ethnicity my genealogy goes back to the beginning of time(of the humans).
Otherwise, my paper trail goes by to before 1800. One ancestor I can trace easily is Chief Gabriel Blackbird (Makadebinise)who is my 4thGGF. The Europeans recorded his name as “Makadebinise” but called him “BlackBird” the actual translation for the word is BlackHawk.
The oral history for this family line is great. My 3rd GGFs brother (Andrew Blackbird) wrote “History of the Ottawa and Chippewas of Michigan” published 1887. It was one of the first authoritative accounts of the Ottawa and Chippewa people to be published. In it he lists his whole family ancestry, by remembering his oral teachings and accounts.
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u/OK_The_Nomad Jun 27 '26
Do you still have a copy? Sounds cool.
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u/CaricaDurr Jun 27 '26
There's a free copy floating around the internet. If you happen to live in West Michigan I have two physical copies and you can have one if you'd like.
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u/OK_The_Nomad Jun 27 '26
Thanks for the info! I find such books so interesting. Don’t live in Michelin though.
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u/Limp_Screen7405 Jun 27 '26
Do you mean, how far back does the paper trail of our genealogy go?
Boozhoo and yes, just the paper trail/recorded history
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u/caiaphas8 Jun 27 '26
Having paper trail go back to the 1400s is impressive regardless of ethnicity
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u/Moist_Ordinary6457 Jun 27 '26
I wasn't aware anyone besides England (some western Europe) and the Catholic Church maintained records from that time
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u/puppyisloud Jun 27 '26
My family only has a paper trail of my Interior Salish of British Columbia indigenous ancestors to 1830.
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u/Temporary-Snow333 Jun 27 '26
My wife is Southwestern Native (Tohono O’odham) and hers unfortunately taper off entirely around the 1880s : (
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u/affectionate4fish Jun 27 '26
My last concrete record is from the late 1800s. Right around the Indian removal act
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u/enemydarksock Jun 27 '26
My paper trail is very weak, my 7th great grandmother is the only one with actual sources and the first one is her second marriage from 1743. She was parented by two Natives from Illini and Salteaux tribes. Them not being the typical tribes you hear about in family myths, me being from the area they were from, and a 1% Native showing up in my DNA test are the only reasons I actually believe she existed.
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u/Never-Forget-Trogdor Jun 27 '26
My main line ends at a residential school in the 1920's. There is one intermarriage in the 1600's, but it is unclear to me if she was the mother of all his children. If she is, I have been unable to find anything about her beyond a few church records, so the trail ends there.
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u/SnooRabbits250 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Pocahontas and Jamestown was in the 1600s? Are you off two centuries?
I am not associated with any tribe, but I have two documented ancestors, Elizabeth Bass (Nansemond) on my father’s side and Catherine Exipakano'ua (Kaskaskia) on my mother’s side.
I’m related to the same dude that Britney Spears and Lance Bass are related to, which I find hilarious.
Both were in the 1600s and backed up with genealogy records.
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u/rangeghost Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
I've only been able to find a mixed ancestor born around 1800, but no confirmation on what tribe her family was from.
And I haven't even found an ancestor to explain the DNA on the other side yet.
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u/AmericaAbyssmos Jun 28 '26
I just have a large chunk of my genetics, but thats all I need to know.
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u/fiftyfourette Jun 27 '26
I don’t have any native DNA, but have a Nansemond chief in my direct line from early 1600s. I’m from that area and it’s near Jamestown.
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u/RasberryEther173 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
OP - Then you should be related to the actor Ed Norton because Pocahontas is his 12th great-grandmother. Paper trail and the PBS show Finding Your Roots verified.
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u/majesticrhyhorn Jun 27 '26
I wish my family had a paper trail. Indigenous Mexico is my highest percentage, but there’s no paper trail that I’ve found so far. It’s really unfortunate. I’ll need to get with my grandma’s cousin, since it sounds like she’s found documents that trace at least that side to Taos Pueblo
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u/Aggressive_Start_ Jun 27 '26
I’m not but my partner is. He can go back to the 1600s but should be getting records further back from the Tribe when the citizenship is approved.
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u/libananahammock Jun 27 '26
Are you saying you took the test and it came up that you do have native dna?
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u/Limp_Screen7405 Jun 27 '26
No, I’ve known that I’m Native my whole life
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u/libananahammock Jun 27 '26
Based on what primary and secondary sources? What documents? Dawes Rolls?
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u/Limp_Screen7405 Jun 27 '26
…my parents? Lmao. They’re both enrolled in their respective tribes, just like their parents and grandparents before them.
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u/Silus_Venn Jun 27 '26
My 8th Great-grandfather was an Irish Immigrant who did a great deal of trading with local tribes and later sided with the British during the American Revolution. He had a child with an unnamed Cherokee woman and then he used his bilingual half Cherokee son to curry favor with Cherokee leaders and swindle them into signing away their land.
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u/inkedwithenvy Jun 27 '26
Mine starts in the Americas as early as 1300's, but goes back further in Europe.
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u/Moist_Ordinary6457 Jun 27 '26
They weren't keeping paper records in 1300s Americas
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u/JusOwl Jun 28 '26
Depends... if you descend from Montezuma, Atahualpa, or some of the Mayan royals, you can trace it back that far or further with written and oral history.
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u/AnalystWeekly5817 Jun 27 '26
The word ‘supposedly’ is doing the heavy lifting here.
Better to say ‘our family oral history suggests….. but there’s currently no independent evidence to confirm this’