Genealogy with a purpose

[BlackVelvet04]

My great, great grandfather married a Monacan, probably from Amherst County, VA. The family, who had slave owners among them, was not happy about his choice of a bride and referred to her as the "brown one". The family Bible was kept from most of us because they didn't want to acknowledge that there was an Indian among us.

I have searched high and low for information about my great, great grandmother and all I have found is her first name, Amanda, and her married name and the name of her children. I found two Amanda's with the right last name in the census records but both were listed as Negro. The Plecker Racial Law didn't come into being until 1924, but I wonder if the census people could have decided to list Native Americans as Negro even before that law.

I wonder if the Monacan's might have some record of her but do not know how to approach the situation. I don't want anything from them except information about her but I know that some of the local Native Americans are skeptical of wannabes. I just feel that she deserves her rightful place in our family tree and that it's time for someone to honor her with her history.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[cleofus1]

1. contact them aned ask

http://www.monacannation.com/contact.shtml

they should be able to let you know what is possible

[BlackVelvet04]

2. thank you......

the family made the search hard and the government didn't help much either.

[CountAllVotes]

3. I'm in the same boat

I recently found the obit. for my great grandfather in Tennessee. He was Cherokee/Choctaw yet claimed to be "black Irish" and Indian. This was common at the time (c. 1900). No one knows anything else about it and records are scant. The records change drastically over time as do the names.

I think I found my grandmother deemed to be a "mulatto" in Louisiana. Seems a "mulatto" could be either a person that is black and white or Indian and white are my findings; in other words, racially "mixed" so to speak.

I think I about give up as I believe I have discovered the truth at last. This is a history in our county that has been ignored and will never be found "written". That is on purpose. I wish there could be some restitution for this. So many of us have lost our identity as the result of yet another Federal law that was enacted, that was the law of "assimilation". It worked well; too well.

How can you trace something that was not something that people wanted to not be traced? It makes no sense. I cannot blame any of them one bit however. They did what they had to do to survive it seems sadly.

I wish you the best of luck finding out some information during your search. You may be surprised!