Listening to one of my favorite genealogy podcasts on Facebook Live in 2023 (shout out to Genealogy Adventures), the discussion turned to Native Americans suddenly disappearing. That’s the way it seemed, especially in North Carolina. When I first arrived in Onslow County, North Carolina, a long-time resident told me that the Tuscarora Indians disappeared because they left the area. They assumed the tribe moved away because of the lack of natural resources and not forcibly removed (as in the Trail of Tears). I found this hard to believe, so I did my research.

Race has always defined individuals in this country and the world. A dominant race seems to overpower any race (especially one of color): Africans endured slavery; Jews suffered the Holocaust; the Japanese faced imprisonment in internment camps in the United States during WWII; and the colonists drove Native Americans off their land and relocated them to areas deemed less troublesome to them. 

 The federal government established a legal definition of race to classify people based on racial identity and appearance, especially in Virginia. An 1866 Virginia law specified the degree of “blackness” to be listed as “colored” or Indian. In 1924, Virginia passed the “Act to Preserve Racial Integrity” that the Native Americans started to “disappear.”

Enforcing segregation relied on racial definition, particularly in Virginia. Walter Ashby Plecker, the Virginia Registrar of the Vital Statistics Bureau, pushed people to categorize their race as either “colored”/Black or white. The term “colored” became the new race for African Americans. Plecker group Virginian Native Americans in the “colored” category. Virginians with mixed African and Native American heritage faced scrutiny from Plecker, who believed these half-Native Blacks claimed to be Native Americans to circumvent segregation laws and pass for white. 

Plecker scrutinized every birth certificate and marriage application for these citizens and manipulated their records. Statistically speaking, he reclassified many with Native American mixed heritage as “colored,” eradicating the genealogical heritage of Native Americans in Virginia. Plecker developed and maintained the one-drop rule, meaning mixed Native African heritage followed this rule and was considered colored/black.

Plecker’s racial “erasure” efforts caused Native Americans to “disappear” from documents and records. Native Americans living on Virginia Reservations (Virginia has two state-recognized Indian reservations) regained their status in 1930. Plecker’s policy still affects the Native American population today. Virginian Natives struggle to acquire federal recognition due to a lack of documentation proving their Native American race and status.

The acknowledgment of Native American Heritage began on the 2nd Saturday in May as American Indian Day in 1915. Although not nationally recognized, New York celebrated on the 2nd Saturday of  May in 1916. Starting in 1986, many celebrated Native American Heritage Day during the last week of November to coincide with Thanksgiving, calling it American Indian Week. In 1990, President Bush designated the month of November as National American Indian Heritage Month. It became fully accepted sometime after 1995.

Several documents can help research Native American ancestors. The National Archives has collections for finding individuals, families, and tribes, including Indian census rolls, treaties and laws, school records, and Bureau of Indian Affairs records. Here are a few of the most significant:

Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation Rolls (1848-1970)

This collection contains census records and rolls listing members of the Cherokee Nation. It lists the Cherokee and Council numbers, includes the Native American and English names, residence, individuals living in the household with their ages and genders, number of slaves (pre-Civil War) and type of livestock.

Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs (1824-1881)

This collection contains letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs between 1824 and 1881. This office helped broker relations between the U.S. government and Native Americans. You will need to know your family’s tribal affiliation and where they lived in order to research your Native American ancestors using this collection.

Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes (1898-1914)

The government established the Dawes Commission that negotiated agreements with the Five Civilized Tribes – the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. The agreements provided for the dissolution of the tribal governments and the allotment of land to each tribal member. The Commission prepared tribal membership rolls and oversaw applications for tribal citizenship. The Dawes Rolls contain approved and denied applications.

Ancestry and Family Search have over thirty databases, including seven free indexes of Native American records. If you need assistance with finding and reviewing specific records, contact us.

As children, we learned the “history” of Thanksgiving. It always bothered me that the name of the Indian tribe was never mentioned. The history books erased their name. This scenario commonly occurs in American history books. From what I remember, the first Thanksgiving celebrated the harvest between the Pilgrims and Indians. The Indians brought a cornucopia filled with corn and maize to welcome the Pilgrims to their lands. Allegedly, they sat at a long table and eventually smoked a peace pipe.

As I got older and took history courses, this grammar school recollection forced me to evaluate what I had learned and question the obvious. During a visit to my grandparents’ home in Massachusetts, I visited a Wampanoag Museum, which sparked my fascination with Native American culture. I vividly remember the Museum docent’s native attire, his story about the first Thanksgiving, how his people were left out of the narrative, and that the Thanksgiving story widely told is not what really happened.

By taking history courses in college, I discovered that the perpetrators became the storytellers who reconstructed the historical narrative. The truth from the Native American community, specifically the Wampanoag Indians who participated in that first Thanksgiving, has been reduced in elementary school social studies books. As with many erasures of historical facts about Native Americans, the truth about hostile land takeovers and brutalities against tribes would not make a good story for future generations of how this country came into existence. Changing the story and the outcome was necessary.

So what really happened at the first Thanksgiving? Well, the Native Americans did not feel thankful when the English arrived on their land. The actual Thanksgiving marked a dark moment in history that has been distorted. The colonists brought diseases, enslaved the Native Americans, and destroyed their homes and families to steal their land. The worst part – the Wampanoag and Pequot Indians tried to help the colonists adjust to their land, only to be literally stabbed in the back (also shot, burned, and beaten to death). If you don’t believe me, do your own research or ask a Native American. They will not sugarcoat their history.

It’s true!!! Native Americans gained U.S. citizenship on June 2, 1924, when President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (also known as the Synder Act) only 100 years ago! This act granted citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States. However, it did not automatically grant them the right to vote. 

Unfortunately, it took over 40 years for all states to allow Native Americans to vote. Many states continued to bar Native Americans from voting through discriminatory practices like literacy tests and residency requirements. These practices paralleled the challenges faced by African Americans after slavery. Native Americans fought hard for their voting rights through legal battles. For example, in 1948, court decisions in Arizona and New Mexico legalized voting rights for Native Americans in those states. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory voting practices and protected the right to vote for communities of color, including Native Americans.

Despite these legal victories, Native Americans still face barriers to voting, such as lack of access to polling places, voter identification requirements, and the absence of physical addressing systems in tribal communities. Native American activists continue to work to remove these barriers and ensure equal access to voting. Organizations like the Native American Rights Fund and the California Native Vote Project are actively involved in these efforts. The Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA) aims to protect their voting rights by ensuring equal access to resources and allowing tribes to designate voting addresses.

As we honor Native American Heritage Month, we recognize the invaluable contributions and cultural richness of Native American communities. Their deep-rooted traditions and modern-day achievements shape the diverse tapestry of our society. Celebrating their history, art, and heritage fosters greater understanding and appreciation for the strength, resilience, and beauty inherent in Native American culture. Let us carry these lessons forward, ensuring that we cherish and preserve the legacy of Native American peoples for generations to come.

Hvsosdi nihi (Cherokee for “go in peace”), Tanya