Carolyne's Native American Genealogy Helper
Your guide to Native American Genealogy, including how-to articles that emphasize the importance of history in connection with Native American genealogical research.
This website was created by my mother, Carolyne Gould, who passed away on February 15, 2012. Genealogy was her passion, as was helping other people to trace their family roots. She would want this site to be kept online to be of help to anyone researching the history of their family. I hope that anyone reading this will find Mom's vast knowledge and resources to be of help. Mom spent most of her adult life searching for the missing feathers in her family tree. She learned a lot along the way, and she wanted to help others find their feathers too. Family was everything to her, and she was the heart of ours. In the end, family is all we really have. We must cherish it and preserve it, always. NAIH, Mom.
A major portion of this site focuses on Native American history and genealogy resources that may prove helpful in your ancestry search. If you are here searching your Native American ancestry, and your bloodline is mixed with the blood of immigrants to North America, you may be Metis --- a French word meaning "mixed." South of the U.S. border, the term is "Mestizo." You will find links to Metis/Metsizo resources on my "helper" as well.
Need help with Native American genealogy? You'll find Native American History and genealogy information links at the top and bottom of all the web pages. Tribal-specific census information, rolls and links to free online Indian census records will be found on the link called Native American Genealogy. This page also connects to my personal collection of tribal census data. The Native Links also has some genealogy resources listed. Most of the Native American Genealogy How-To Articles I wrote for Suite101.com are indexed here, or you can click on the topic of your choice, below. These articles are being rewritten and expanded for a book. Your input on the articles will be valuable in helping others, so please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. Go here to learn a little bit about the author.
- Common Roadblocks to Native American Genealogy
- Marriage of History and Genealogy, Part 1
- Marriage of History and Genealogy, Part 2
- Searching the National Archives for Native American Records
- Census Rolls on Microfilm
- The Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Cherokee By Blood, Part 1
- Cherokee By Blood, Part 2
- More Sources for Tribal Information
Looking for Native American stories? You will find some indexed in the Legends and Stories section. A section on Native American prayers has also been added. A site map to the main sections of this site is below. Contributions are gladly accepted.
Looking for my family surnames? The tmain surnames include SWINFORD, SUTTON, NORTON, ALLEN, JOHNSON, JONES and HAYES, some of which are listed in the site map below. Other family surnames include BODINE, COVELL, DAVIS, DENNIS, DODGE, DOWNEY, KEPHART (in all spelling variations), McINTYRE, MOULTON, NORTON, STAFFORD, RATCLIFF, RIDLON, ROBERTSON, , STEWART, WINDER(S), and TEMPLETON.
Check out the albums for old family photos. For more information, I have uploaded a family tree (more than 16,000 people and notes) to the World Family Tree that shows up on Rootsweb and Ancestry.com. You can click here to go directly to my family tree.
Please note! A person has posted on the Internet that I have traced the family tree of Malachi York back to the Yamasee tribe and to Ben York, a slave who served in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This is a false statement. I have not traced Malachi York's heritage to the Yamasee tribe, nor to any provable descendant of Ben York.
I am the RootsWeb
Administrator for several Mailing lists including the surnames: CORNPLANTER, RONDOT, GOUBEAUD, and COVELL as well as the Message Board administrator for several surnames including the SENECA NATION message board. I hope you are using message boards and mailing lists in your research.
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My Choice of the Best
Genealogy Search SitesUsing the Internet for genealogy research can be very rewarding or an exercise in frustration. I've spent thousands of online hours hunting down truly searchable and productive genealogy sites, including those really hard-to-find resources for Native American research. During my research, I've found about a dozen main websites that that will connect you to more than 100,000 truly-searchable genealogy sites on the net. The oldest, and one of the largest, genealogy sites is RootsWeb. There are multiple resources, how-to articles, and connections around the world. A link to RootsWeb is below.
I also recommend you check out Ancestry.com even though they charge for some resources. There are many free tools at the site and they post new items daily. The site also rotates items that are normally part of the paid service into the free area, so I recommend periodic returns to the site. It will be a valuable tool in your research. I hope you will find the information you are looking for through these or the other sites I've listed below. Good luck on your search into your heritage!
- AccessGenealogy.com Many Native American Records including the Dawes Rolls and Guion Miller Rolls
- Ancestry.com
Although it is a paid site, there is always something free here!
- Cyndi's List Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites has more than 100,000 links, by category! One of the best on the web.
- Discover what research has already been done for YOUR family tree at OneGreatFamily
- Intertribal.net A resource for Chinook jargon and a Cherokee language program
- Early American History First-hand history is brought to the net in full original text.
- Library of Congress The Nation's Library has a multitude of free sources including photographs
- National Archives and Records Administration The NARA is the original source for Dawes and Guion Miller Rolls and military records. For online data, check the Footnote link.
- RootsWeb
The largest free genealogy site on the Web!
- RootsWeb SSDI
The Rootsweb Social Security Death Index is a great way to start!
- The World General Web Enter a surname and find ancestors, fellow researchers, and family all over the world!
- Free State Genealogy Websites One spot to access every state in the U.S. GenWeb network!.
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