As an indigenous person from a Southeastern tribe, I understand what a privilege it is to have all the family and tribal records to show our descendancy and continued community connection. Even though my tribe’s laws against marriage to black people keep us from enrollment.

This isn’t the case for a lot of Natives from Southeastern tribes. Because these tribes’ first contact was so early, we often don’t have treaties w the US Govt. For exp, my tribe’s (Pamunkey) treaty was w the English crown. This is why we didn’t get federal recognition until 2015

So without the censuses that come with treaties, record-keeping was not as robust. I have court cases that identify my ancestors as Pamunkey. And we appear on the records of the founding of the reservation church. Family and birth/death records say “Indiantown” (the reservation).

For many people, it isn’t as straightforward. A lot of records like birth/death certs just don’t exist for some families. Or the ancestor lived off-res because that’s where the work was. Or there was no rez. On most census, Natives legally fell under “mulatto” & “FPOC”.

For the most part, each Southeastern tribe has list of core surnames. They usually appear on some petitions that the tribe made to govt at some point. And/or they are families that migrated together or stayed on their land. To enroll, u prove lineage to one of a handful of people

As I’ve said in recent interviews and podcasts on the subject, people from Western tribes have a very shoddy understanding of Eastern tribal history. We often don’t pass their racial purity test of what indigenous people should look like physically or culturally.

A few years ago, a young man from a prominent Eastern tribe went to the Gathering of National powwow. He wanted to dance in the Men’s Traditional category. But he wasn’t allowed to enter the circle bc our traditional regalia was not recognized as legitimate.

We have to do better at understanding the complexities of the history of indigenous people on the East Coast.

My cousin Kianga Lucas is a Cornell/UMass trained anthropologist/genealogist who studies our people in the SouthEast. Take a look at her work. https://nativeamericanroots.wordpress.com/author/kiangalucas/

Also side note, if you want to know more about the Pamunkey anti-black codes I suggest this article with an interview of my cousin @PamunkeyWoman34 Page 2 is thorough.

We have been working w a lawyer and Congresswoman @RepGwenMoore on our enrollment case http://m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2020/feb/28/blood-feud/?page=2

https://twitter.com/bambinoir/status/1294415945033605123?s=21 https://twitter.com/bambinoir/status/1294415945033605123