17 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
View submission: What's the longest unanswered question in your family's history?
Was my great grandfather's real father a full native American? The story goes that my great-grandad was taken away as a kid to live with his mom who married a white man and who adopted him, and there are stories of him being taken on trips to see his dad by canoe down a major river which is in the vicinity. No one knows for sure, there are only stories.
Comment by Suspicious_Kale5009 at 24/02/2025 at 15:42 UTC
28 upvotes, 5 direct replies
DNA testing shows that our native ancestry was non-existent, though it was passed down to all of us that we were descended from natives. Turns out that's a very common story in certain subcultures - my family is Appalachian and it's very common there - and the reasons for it vary, but it was often told to hide ancestry that would have been less socially acceptable.
Comment by MotherofJackals at 24/02/2025 at 20:06 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My dad always told me his Granny my g.grandmother was Native American. Over the years I got bits of the story.
Her mother did washing and cooking for miners along with some Native women mostly Choctaw. She got pregnant out of wedlock...which was definitely not okay in those days. She was put out by her family and the Native ladies took her and her daughter in. They considered themselves family. Not a drop if Native blood but close enough to those women that my g.grandmother named her daughter after one of them.
Comment by Suz9006 at 24/02/2025 at 15:06 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You really should do DNA testing. It will answer that question for you.