How do I trace my Native American Ancestry and help my grandma trace her possible rights to estate property?

Question

I am trying to prove my Native American ancestry.My fathers side of the family is untraceable it appears as he is deceased and he was put up for adoption.I do not even know how to reach the adopted family.But on my mothers side,my grandfather is Mexican and Navajo.I have spoke with Lineages, and the cost is very high.I am curious how to trace my ancestry.My grandpas mother is supposedly 100% Navajo.Also,my grandmother recently heard she may have rights to a property her mother may have had.Her mother is deceased and lived in Puerto Rico.Does anyone know of any resources?I asked Net Detective,and they do not assist in these areas.

Answer 1

You have a lot of different parts to this and there's not a single answer.

Let's start with the easy one. Did your grandmother leave a will? And if she did, did anyone file it with the probate court? If that happened already, then you've got to look at what the court ordered and hire an attorney to assert your mother's rights. If there was no probate, then she may need to file for her mother, then follow the process out. It's not expensive for your mother, but it will involve getting organized and providing the evidence to the court because they won't go on a fishing expedition to find things for you.

The Navajo ancestry won't be so hard once you find birth, marriage and death records. If there are baptismal or other church records involved, even better. You'll quickly find addresses, parents' names, godparents' names, etc that will help you identify your tribal affiliations. Eventually you may be able to get the tribe to give you information on recent generations. The caveat is that if the tribe has a casino, they're very unfriendly towards potential "golddiggers" who show up wanting to be part of the tribe and get part of the profits. I've known one tribe that refused to give information to anyone period. They got gready and that was the end of their information sharing.

Eventually you'll make your way back to the Dawes Rolls. It's an enumeration of various tribes and is very thorough. There are also tribe-specific resources that you can find at the National Archives site. It's not difficult once you're back in the 19th century. The only tedious part is getting back that far.

Answer 2

Hi:

You might start from the Latter-Day Saint sponspored website for geneology, www.familysearch.org. I think some people have been entered there by other people and by death certificates and census counts, so you might possibly be able to trace back some of your relatives that way.

I got ahold of the Daughters of the American Revolution, because I have an ancestor who was found to have participated, but in order to really be accepted into that organization, I would have to find more specific resources than just this website, so even if you are able to locate relatives, you might need to track down more sources, but I think some of the entries on the website might have reference indications.

I'm sort of lucky, because at least a few sides of my family have more information available because there are books about some branches of my family groups, but wow, if those weren't there, I think it would be really difficult to track back.

I think if you can really prove your native American lineage, and you're not less than 1/8th, you could go to college free (I thought about that, but I'm too diluted - I'm like 1/64th Pawnee or Shawnee or something like that - my grandmother's grandmother was a full blood native American.)

Hope this helps and I hope you are able to find what you're looking for. :)

Answer 3

I have never heard of the name Cree, but I have known several Dakota's and both boys and girls. And none have Native American, that I know of. But, you cannot always tell by their appearance.

Answer 4

such miss information. you can be 100 % Indian you wont be able to go to college for free. you can get in touch with the Navajo nation and ask for there help, people every day get in touch with them for this help, there sick of it , so good luck.