Native Heritage Project

Horse Shoe Jim, an Indian Chief, Claiborne County, Tennessee

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Roberta Estes

During a visit to Claiborne County, TN is the 1980s, I happened across a scrapbook that had been contributed to the library. Inside the scrapbook were old clippings from the Claiborne Progress Newspaper that related to the residents and includes a group of historical articles. I copied the entire scrapbook, although many of the articles were not in good shape. I’ve found this treasure trove again recently as I was cleaning out some files, and have been transcribing the articles to preserve them. Unknown to me at that time, the Claiborne Progress burned in 1923, so there are no archived newspapers. Judging from surrounding articles, this article was probably from 1912-1916.

A Pioneer Home Goes Up in Smoke

“Holly Hill” or the Patterson home burned last Saturday night and was destroyed. The fire was discovered by 8 o’clock and flames when first seen were coming from the dining hall roof. The fire had been in the ?? since the dinner hour. How the fire originated will never be known but supposition that the match and the rat is responsible. Insurance to the amount of $25,000 was carried on the building and furniture. Comparatively nothing was saved.

The old Patterson home was situationed three ?? (probably miles) from the Gap. The brick portion was built by Elisha Walden in the early part of the last century and owned by his son John Walden until 1836 when it was purchased by Frances Patterson and his son James M. Paterson and has been in the hands of the family every since.

Probably no old home in this county has more interesting historical association connections with it. (missing) Patterson home was never a hotel, it is safe to say that thousands of travelers, stock ?? and soldiers have slept under its roof (missing)

Almost under the ruins their lies the bones of a confederate soldier whose grave was covered with white roses, peonies, scarlet and yellow tulips. A little farther away is the grave of Horse Shoe Jim, an Indian Chief killed in an Indian attack and buried by Walden and his slaves. On the State Road near the ruins is a grave marked on a crude tombstone “William Robinson, killed by Indians in 1786”. The Indians had stolen Robinson’s horses in Virginia and he with others had followed them to their Indian village. He became separated from his friends and was shot from a cane brake. He wrote his on an oak tree with his own blood. When found he was buried on the spot.

Roberta’s note: Elisha Walden is also known as Elisha Wallen. Patterson Crossroads today is just east of the intersection of highways 63 and 25E. The “State Road” is now highway 25E.

Robinson was killed at Butcher Springs, just north of Arthur and you can see pictures of this area in my article about Lazarus Dodson who later owned this land.

On the map below, Butcher Springs is marked with the red balloon and you can see Patterson Crossroads in the upper right corner.

If this history is correct and Robinson did follow the Indians to their village, this tells is that the location of Butcher Springs, which is an excellent headwater on a flat area would have been the location at one time of an Indian village.

This overview shows Butcher Springs, Patterson Crossroads just east of 63 and 25E and Cumberland Gap at the top.

Elisha Wallen, the longhunter, died in 1814 in Missouri, at 84 years of age. He began longhunting in the area that would become Claiborne County, TN in 1761. However, the nephew of the longhunter Elisha Wallen, also named Elisha Wallen, lived in Claiborne County, served in the Revolutionary War and testified after 1814 and prior to 1841 as to the service of Alexander Ritchie. You can read more about Elisha Wallen and Indian attacks in the 1770s and 1780s here.

Posted in Tennessee | 2 Comments

Further Analysis of Native American DNA Haplogroup C Planned

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Roberta Estes

Haplogroup C is one of two Native American male haplogroups. More specifically, one specific branch of the haplogroup C tree is Native American which is defined by mutation C-P39 (formerly known as C3b). Ray Banks shows this branch (highlighted in yellow) along with sub-branches underneath on his tree:

Please note that if you are designated at 23andMe as Y haplogroup C3e, you are probably C-P39. We encourage you to purchase the Y DNA 111 marker test at Family Tree DNA and join the haplogroup C and C-P39 projects.

It was only 11 years, ago in 2004 in the Zegura study, that C-P39 was reported among just a few Native American men in the Plains and Southwest. Since that time The American Indian DNA project, surname projects and the AmerIndian Ancestry Out of Acadia DNA projects have accumulated samples that span the Canadian and American borders, reaching west to east, so haplogroup C-P39 is not relegated to the American Southwest. It is, however, still exceedingly rare.

In August of 2012, Marie Rundquist, co-administrator of the haplogroup C-P39 DNA project performed an analysis and subsequent report of the relationships, both genealogical and genetic, of the C-P39 project members. One of the burning questions is determining how far back in time the common ancestor of all of the C-P39 group members lived.

When Marie performed the first analysis, in 2012,, there were only 14 members in the project, representing 6 different families, and they had only tested to 67 markers. Most were from Canada.

My, how things have changed. We now have more participants, more markers to work with and additional tests to bring to bear on the questions of relatedness, timing and origins.

Today, there are a total of 43 people in the project and their locations include the Pacific Northwest, Appalachia, the Southwest and all across Canada, west to east.

If you are haplogroup C-P39 or C3e at 23andMe, please join the C-P39 project at Family Tree DNA today. I wrote about how to join a project here, but if you need assistance, just let me know in a comment to the blog and Marie or I will contact you. (Quick Instructions: sign on to your FTDNA account, click on projects tab on upper left toolbar, click on join, scroll down to Y haplogroup projects, click on C, select C-P39 project and click through to press orange join button.)

Marie is preparing to undertake a new analysis and provides the following announcement:

The C-P39 Y DNA project is pleased to announce a forthcoming updated and revised project report. The C-P39 project has established a 111-marker baseline for our 2016 study and analysis will include:

111 marker result comparisons
geo-locations
tribal / family relationships
C P39 SNP findings
new SNPs and Big Y results

The current C-P39 Y DNA study has a healthy diversity of surnames, geo-locations, and tribal / family lines represented.

The C-P39 Y DNA project will cover the costs of the necessary 111 marker upgrades by way of Family Tree DNA C-P39 Y DNA study project fund.

Thanks to all who have contributed to the project fund and to participants who have funded their own tests to 111 markers as part of our study. To voluntarily contribute (anonymously if you like) to the C-P39 Y DNA project funds and help our project achieve this goal, please click on the link below and please do make certain that the “C-P39 Y-DNA” pre-selected project is highlighted when you do:

https://www.familytreedna.com/group-general-fund-contribution.aspx?g=Y-DNAC-P39

Thank you to project members contributing DNA test results to the C-P39 study and for encouraging friends and relatives to do the same! Thank you also to Family Tree DNA management for their ongoing support.

The project needs to raise $3164 to upgrade all project members to 111 markers. Many participants have already upgraded their own results, for which we are very grateful, but we need all project members at the 111 level if possible.

Please help fund this scientific project if you can. Every little bit helps. I’m going to start by making a donation right now! You can make the donation in memory or in honor of someone or a particular ancestor – or you can be completely anonymous. Please click on the link above to make your contribution!!! We thank you and the scientific community thanks you.

Posted in Canada, Cree, DNA, Miawpukeks, Micmac | 18 Comments

Native American Haplogroup X2a – Solutrean, Hebrew or Beringian?

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Roberta Estes

I was very pleased to see the article, “Does Mitochondrial Haplogroup X Indicate Ancient Trans-Atlantic Migration to the Americas? A Critical Re-Evaluation” by Jennifer Raff and Deborah Bolnick.

This is one of those topics that gets brought up over and over again and is often presented in the form of an urban legend with some level of bias based up on the agenda, exuberance or opinion of the person who is presenting the evidence. In other words, it makes for good click-bait.

Personally, I don’t have a horse in this race. I care about the truth, whatever it is, being discovered and unraveled. I think the authors of this paper have done a good job of presenting the evidence in both directions then drawing conclusions based on scientific data as we know it. There has been new evidence emerge in the recent past and there is likely to be more in the future which, depending on the evidence, could cause a re-evaluation of this topic.

Why has haplogroup X2 been so contentious and controversial when the other Native American haplogroups have not?

There are two primary reasons:

There is no clear-cut genetic path across Beringia to the New World for X2a, meaning that X2a is not found in Siberia in the areas bordering Beringia. The ancestral form of the other Native American haplogroups are found there, indicating a clear migration path. Having said that, haplogroup X2a and subgroups is very clearly the rarest of the Native American mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and it’s certainly feasible that not enough testing has been performed on living or ancestral people to discover X2 or X2a directly ancestral individuals. It is also possible that line has died out, but hopefully we will still find examples in skeletal remains as more are DNA typed.
Many of the early carriers of haplogroup X2a were found in eastern maritime Canada, a prime theoretical landing location for Solutreans. This certainly fanned the Solutrean flame. However, more recent discoveries of haplogroup X2a and subgroups have been more widely geographically dispersed. Neither is there a path or ancestral form of X2a found in Europe or the Middle East.

Looking at the X2a subgroups (X2a, X2a1, X2a1a, X2a1b, X2a1c, plus three forms of X2a2) in the haplogroup X project at Family Tree DNA, the American Indian project, GenBank and various academic papers, we find the following locations identified for X2a and subgroups, moving west to east:

Saskatchewan
Pasadena, California
Chihuahua, Mexico
Edmonton, Alberta
Selkirk, Manitoba
Manitoba (2)
La Pointe, Wisconsin
Ontario
Ontario border with Michgan (Manitoulin Island)
St. Ignace, Michigan (near border with Ontario)
Manawan, Quebec
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland (Island) 2
Cape Breton, Canada
Nova Scotia, Canada

Although not in the haplogroup X project, X2a2 has also been found among the Navajo and Jemez in the American Southwest and in Kennewick Man found in Kennewick, Washington. Other tribal affiliations include the Chippewa, Ojibwa and Sioux. Given the Newfoundland and Canadian seaboard locations, the Algonquian speaking Micmac and Beothuk populations would clearly be involved as well.

Note on the X2a map above reflecting the oldest known ancestral locations, that no locations appear outside of North America.

Haplogroup X2a is believed to have developed in Beringia during the period of isolation of approximately 8,000 years experienced by the people who were to become the “First Nations” and “Native Americans” in North America. This is the reason, not just for X2a, but for other haplogroups as well, that some subgroups exist only in Native people in the New World and not in Asia from whence they came. Those haplogroup identifying mutations occurred during their long stay in Beringia.

We know from archaeological excavations along with genetic analysis in some cases that the Native people by roughly 14,000 years ago had emerged from Beringia, trekked southward and were in Monte Verde in Chile. The Native population seems to have diverged into two groups, one in South America who likely arrived via a western coastal route, and one who migrated more eastwardly, the ancestors of Anzick Child who lived about 12,500 years ago in Montana and whose DNA has been tested.

Kennewick Man who carries the oldest form of haplogroup X2a yet found in the Americas was dated to be about 9,000 years old and was found in Washington State, so clearly X2a was present in the Native population 9,000 years ago and on the western side of the continent.

You will note that in the list of X2a results given above, none of the locations are any further south than Chichuhua, Mexico. Based on the locations of these most distant ancestors, a primary west to east migration path just north of the present day border between the US and Canada is suggested, along with a secondary path southward along the Pacific coast or western corridor.

Here are the salient points listed by Raff and Bolnick in support of haplogroup X2a and subgroups originating in Asia, along with the other Native American haplogroups, and arriving together in the same settlement wave:

Haplogroup X2a is present in the Americas in pre-European contact skeletal remains confirming is it not a result of post-contact admixture.
While the Altai, considered to be the original Asian homeland of today’s Native American people, do carry haplogroup X2, the linking mutations between X2 and X2a have not been found in that or any other population group today. Haplogroup X itself originated in the Middle East before X2 evolved, but that is not indicative of Hebrew or European ancestry.
X2a is not found in the Middle East, and therefore could not have been part of a theoretical Hebrew migration from the Middle East 2500 years ago. Haplogroup X2a was found in Kennewick man who lived 9000 years ago, in Washington State, so X2a in the Americas predates the proposed Hebrew migration by some 6,500 years.
The oldest and deepest rooted X2a result, relative to the haplotree, is Kennewick man whose remains were found in the western US. If X2a was the result of a Solutrean migration during the Pleistocene 23,500 to 18,000 years ago with a landing base in Newfoundland or someplace on the east coast, the oldest and deepest lineages should be found in the eastern population, not on the west coast.
Based on coalescence dates and demographic history, X2a is likely to have originated in the same population as the other American founder haplogroups.
Kennewick Man was explicitly tested for his affinity with European and Polynesian populations and that hypothesis was rejected.
Studies have indicated that a population found in central Asia contributed strongly to both the Native American population and the European population by moving from central Asia into both Europe and Siberia, but that does not equate to Europeans being ancestral to Native Americans. Instead, a common ancestral population often referred to as the “ghost population” was part of the founding group of both Europeans and Native Americans as described here and here. This means that later European populations, such as Germanic people who do show small amounts of “Native American” admixture are probably more closely related to Native Americans than earlier populations from before the central Asian people arrived and settled en masse in Europe.
No Solutrean skeletal remains have been recovered in Europe in order to facilitate a direct comparison. However, if Solutrean people did arrive in the New World on the east coast, one would not expect to find a European/Solutrean signature equally distributed among all native people, but instead distributed in a gradient pattern with the highest levels closest to where the Solutrean people lived, meaning their landing point. In other words, it would radiate outward like ripples from a rock thrown into water. However, the genetic signature of West Eurasian ancestry in Native American people is found equally in all Native American genomes tested to date, and as such, predates the evolution of regional genetic structure within North and South America as reflected in migration patterns.

If you’d like to take a DNA test, click here.

Posted in Algonquian, Anthropology, Anzick, Archaeology, Archaic Indians, Asia, Beothuk, Canada, Chippewa, Clovis, DNA, Europe, History, Jemez, Kennewick Man, Michigan, Micmac, Migration, Montana, Navajo, Ojibwa, Sioux, Solutrean | 8 Comments

Samson Occom, the Presbyterian Mohegan

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Born in 1723, Samson was a member of the Mohegan nation from near New London, CT and became a Presbyterian minister. Occum was the first Native American to publish his writings in English, and also helped found several settlements, including what ultimately became known as the Brothertown Indians. Together with the missionary John Eliot, Occom became one of the foremost missionaries who cross-fertilized Native American communities with Christianized European culture.

Elliott published the first Bible in the US, which just happened to be written in Algonquian.

Born to Joshua Tomacham and his wife Sarah, Occom is believed to be a direct descendant of Uncas, the notable Mohegan chief.

In 1743 at the age of 20, Occom heard the teachings of Christian evangelical preachers in the Great Awakening. He began to study theology at the “Lattin School” of Congregational minister Eleazar Wheelock in 1743 and stayed for four years until leaving to begin his own career. In addition to improving his English, Occom learned to read and speak Hebrew. As a young man, the only book he owned was the Bible. From 1747 until 1749, Occum worked under and studied with the Reverend Solomon Williams in New London, Connecticut.

From 1749–61, Occom became a teacher, preacher, and judge to Pequot Native Americans in Montauk, eastern Long Island. He married Mary Fowler, a local woman, in the fall of 1751. Occom helped the Pequot to assimilate and adopt European-style houses, dress and culture.

He was officially ordained a minister on August 30, 1759, by the presbytery of Suffolk. Occom was never paid the same salary as white preachers, although promised that he would be. The “Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge” also gave Occom a stipend, but he lived in deep poverty for much of his life. In 1761 and 1763, Occom traveled to the Six Nations of the Iroquois in upstate New York to preach. Winning few converts, he returned to teach at Mohegan, Connecticut near New London.

Meanwhile, in 1754, Wheelock had established an Indian charity school in Lebanon, Connecticut with a legacy from Joshua Moor, among others. Wheelock persuaded his former pupil to travel to England to raise money for the school. Occom preached his way across Britain from February 16, 1766, to July 22, 1767, delivering between three and four hundred sermons, drawing large crowds wherever he went, and raising over ₤12,000 (pounds) for Wheelock’s project. King George III donated 200 pounds, and William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth subscribed 50 guineas. However, Occom on his return learned that Wheelock failed to care for Occom’s wife and children while he was away. Furthermore, Wheelock moved to New Hampshire and used the funds raised to establish Dartmouth College (named after the generous aristocrat) for the education of Englishmen, rather than Native Americans as originally promised to Occom.

This disappointment was followed by the Connecticut Colony’s ruling that the Mohegans would not be compensated for land they sold to the colony. The colony then backed an unpopular candidate for Mohegan Sachemship. This led the Mohegans to decide that no Sachem was better than a colonial puppet. With the Tribe increasingly penniless and powerless, Occum accepted an invitation in the 1780s for his group to resettle with the upstate New York Oneida. He hoped their new home in Brothertown, New York would free them from additional disappointment. His legacy for the Mohegan people who remained in Connecticut was a reputation for being Christianized, which helped them avoid later relocation, although not forever.

Upon his return from England, Occom lived with the Mohegan. After Wheelock’s betrayal, Occom worked to organize Christianized Indians of New England and Long Island into a new tribe, located in western Connecticut. Under continuing pressure from settlers following the American Revolutionary War, in 1785 they migrated at the invitation of Christians of the Oneida tribe to their reservation in central New York state. Occom, his son-in-law Joseph Johnson (Mohegan)(a messenger for General George Washington during the American Revolution); and his brother-in-law David Fowler (Montauk) led the emigrants who built a new settlement called “Brothertown” (originally nearby Waterville, NY). The Oneida also invited other Christian Indians to live with them, namely the Stockbridge Mohican from western Massachusetts and two Lenape groups from southern New Jersey. The Mohicans founded what they called New Stockbridge in New York, near Oneida Lake. Occom not only assured these villages received civil charters in 1787, but also evicted white settlers from Brotherton on April 12, 1792.

Occom died on July 14, 1792, in New Stockbridge. He is buried just off of Bogusville Hill Road outside of Deansboro.

In the 1820s, many Brothertown Indians and some Oneida accepted payment for their land from New York State and removed to what is now known as the Town of Brothertown in Calumet County, Wisconsin. In the modern era, the Brothertown Indians petitioned the federal government for recognition as a tribe, but were denied and have appealed.

Posted in Brothertown, Iroquois, Lenape, Mantauk, Mohegan, Mohican, Oneida, Pequot, Six Nations | 2 Comments

First Bible Printed in US is Algonquian

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Roberta Estes

The Elliott Bible, translated into Algonquian by John Elliott, a Puritan missionary known as the “Apostle to the Indians,” was the first Bible printed in the colonies in 1663 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. John used this Bible in his missionary efforts.

The Indians of course had no written language, but John Elliott learned Algonquian with the help of an Indian captive named Cockenoe who spoke both Algonquian and English. Specifically, John wrote this Bible in what he perceived to be the Massachusetts language.

Eventually, John succeeded in converting 14 towns into what were known as “praying Indians.”

That Bible today resides in the Library of Congress.

Hat tip to Don for this information.

Posted in Algonquian, Massachusetts | 5 Comments

Free Access to Native American Records – Limited Time

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Many people have an oral history of Native American heritage. Fold3.com is offering free access to their Native American Collection until November 15th, 2015.

Finding that your DNA carries a history of Native heritage often is just the beginning of a search. The next question, if of course, which tribe. That information generally comes from genealogy research.

Conversely, the lack of autosomal DNA evidence does not mean your ancestor was not Native – it may mean they were just too many generations back in time for their DNA to become evident in today’s ethnicity results – although they may still show in Y and mitochondrial DNA – depending on where they fall in your family tree.

Regardless of how your Native history or heritage is presented in your family – DNA or not – enjoy searching these free records.

Titles in this collection include:

Ratified Indian Treaties (1722-1869): Ratified treaties that occurred between the United States government and American Indian tribes. Also included are presidential proclamations, correspondence, and treaty negotiation expenses.
Indian Census Rolls (1885-1940): Census rolls submitted annually by agents or superintendents of Indian reservations as required by an 1884 Act of Congress. Only persons who maintained a formal affiliation with a tribe under Federal supervision are listed on these census rolls.
Dawes Packets: Applications between 1896 and 1914 from members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes to establish eligibility for an allotment of land in return for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing Federal law.
Dawes Enrollment Cards (1898-1914): Enrollment cards, also referred to as “census cards,” prepared by the staff of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, commonly known as the Dawes Commission. The cards record information provided by applications submitted by members of the same family group or household and include notations of the actions taken.
Eastern Cherokee Applications (1906-1909): Applications submitted for shares of the money that was appropriated for the Eastern Cherokee Indians by Congress on June 30, 1906.
Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee by Guion Miller (1908-1910): The Guion Miller Roll is perhaps the most important source for Cherokee genealogical research. There are an estimated 90,000 individual applicants from throughout North America included within this publication.
Cherokee Indian Agency, TN (1801-1835): The records of the agent of Indian Affairs in Tennessee, including correspondence, agency letter books, fiscal records, records of the Agent for the Department of War in Tennessee, records of the Agent for Cherokee Removal, and miscellaneous records.
Rinehart Photos – Native Americans (1898): Photographs of over 100 Native Americans taken by Frank A. Rinehart, a commercial photographer in Omaha, Nebraska. Rinehart was commissioned to photograph the 1898 Indian Congress, part of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition.

Posted in Research, Resources | 6 Comments

Mass Pre-Contact Native Grave in California Yields Disappointing Results

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Roberta Estes

In 2012 during excavation for a shopping mall near San Francisco, a mass grave containing 7 men was unearthed. The manner in which they were buried led archaeologists to believe that they had been murdered, and quickly buried, not ceremonially buried as tribal members would be. They were found among more than 200 other burials.

The victims ages ranged from about 18 to about 40 and scientists concentrated on analyzing the wounds, cause of death and DNA of these men. In part, they wanted to see if they were related to each other and if they originated in this area or came from elsewhere. In other words, were they unsuccessful invaders as suggested by the circumstances of their burials?

This article tells more about the excavations and includes some photos.

Analysis suggests the men lived about 1200 years ago, clearly before European contact. Analysis of the men’s teeth provided information about their history. These men had spent their lives together, but their isotope signatures were clearly different than the individuals in the balance of the burials. Indeed, they look to have been invaders.

An academic paper titled “Isotopic and genetic analysis of a mass grave in central California: Implications for precontact hunter-gatherer warfare” was published a few weeks ago in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. The article itself is behind a paywall available here. The abstract is provided below:

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

Analysis of a mass burial of seven males at CA-ALA-554, a prehistoric site in the Amador Valley, CA, was undertaken to determine if the individuals were “locals” or “non-locals,” and how they were genetically related to one another.

METHODS:

The study includes osteological, genetic (mtDNA), and stable (C, N, O, S) and radiogenic (Sr) isotope analyses of bone and tooth (first and third molars) samples.

RESULTS:

Isotopes in first molars, third molars, and bone show they spent the majority of their lives living together. They are not locals to the Amador Valley, but were recently living to the east in the San Joaquin Valley, suggesting intergroup warfare as the cause of death. The men were not maternally related, but represent at least four different matrilines. The men also changed residence as a group between age 16 and adult years.

CONCLUSIONS:

Isotope data suggest intergroup warfare accounts for the mass burial. Genetic data suggest the raiding party included sets of unrelated men, perhaps from different households. Generalizing from this case and others like it, we hypothesize that competition over territory was a major factor behind ancient warfare in Central California. We present a testable model of demographic expansion, wherein villages in high-population-density areas frequently fissioned, with groups of individuals moving to lower-population-density areas to establish new villages. This model is consistent with previous models of linguistic expansion. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26331533

Genetic Information

I was extremely disappointed with the genetic information. Working with the local Ohlone community, the scientists did attempt to extract DNA from the 7 individuals in the mass grave, with 6 extractions being successful.

They only analyzed the HVR1 region of the mitochondrial DNA.

In the paper, the authors indicate that nuclear DNA which would include the Y chromosome as well as autosomal DNA was too degraded to recover. While disappointing, there is nothing they can do about that.

However, only analyzing the mitochondrial DNA, which they clearly were able to amplify, at the HVR1 level is an incredible lost opportunity. They obtained enough resolution in 6 of the individuals to obtain general haplogroup assignments. However, the HVR2 and coding regions would have provided the defining information about extended haplogroups and individual mutations, including, perhaps, haplogroups never seen previously in the Americas.

Furthermore, given the information above, we can’t tell if the D1 individuals are related to each other matrilineally or not. The B2 individuals are clearly not related in a recent timeframe nor are the A2, B2 and D1 people related to each other on their matrilineal line. What a shame more information wasn’t obtained.

While I’m grateful that DNA testing was undertaken, I’m saddened by the partial results, especially in this day of full genomic sequencing for ancient DNA specimens. I’m perplexed as to why they would not have obtained as much information as was possible, given the significant effort expended in recovering any ancient DNA specimen.

Posted in DNA, Ohlone | 1 Comment

Interactive Early Maps Show Native Movements

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Early maps are a great source for Native researchers. They often show the locations of Indian peoples or towns, in addition to place names that reflect Native people as well.

At this link, you will find several interactive maps.

As an example, let’s take a quick look at the 1755 Mitchell map. It’s extremely detailed and this site allows you to zoom in on different areas.

If you look closely, you’ll see that it says “Shawanoes” and then right above that, “Subdued by the Six Nations and mostly removed to the Ohio.” To the right of those words, you’ll see the word “Tuscarora.” To the upper left, Cayugas.

Looking just south of that on the map, on the migration path from North Carolina to Pennsylvania and New York, we see the Tuscarora noted again just below the Juniata River, and just above Winchester, in Frederick County, Virginia, the gateway to the Shenandoah Valley.

Much of the history of the migration of various people can often be found in places named after them, even after they left that area.

Even looking on contemporary maps, and comparing them with earlier maps can be enlightening. For example, on the present day Google map below, we see Tuscarora Road in Frederick County, above Winchester. Local history tells us that the Tuscarora lived in this area.

Take a look and enjoy.

Posted in Cayuga, Shawnee, Tuscarora | 1 Comment

Indian History of Present Day Berkeley County, West Virginia

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Roberta Estes

According to missionary reports, several thousand Hurons occupied present-day West Virginia, including the Eastern Panhandle region where Berkeley County is located, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. During the 17th century, the Iroquois Confederacy (then consisting of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca tribes) drove the Hurons from the state. The Iroquois Confederacy was headquartered in New York and was not interested in occupying present-day West Virginia. Instead, they used it as a hunting ground during the spring and summer months.

During the early 18th century, West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle region was inhabited by the Tuscarora. They eventually migrated northward into New York and, in 1712, became the sixth nation to be formally admitted into the Iroquois Confederacy. The Eastern Panhandle region was also used as a hunting ground by several other Indian tribes, including the Shawnee (then known as the Shawanese) who resided near present-day Winchester, Virginia and Moorefield, West Virginia until 1754 when they migrated into Ohio. The Mingo, who resided in the Tygart Valley and along the Ohio River in present-day West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle region, and the Delaware, who lived in present-day eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, but had several autonomous settlements as far south as present-day Braxton County, also used the area as a hunting ground.

Following the French and Indian War, the Mingo retreated to their homes along the banks of the Ohio River and were rarely seen in the Eastern Panhandle region. Although the French and Indian War was officially over, many Indians continued to view the British as a threat to their sovereignty and continued to fight them. In the summer of 1763, Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, led raids on key British forts in the Great Lakes region. Shawnee chief Keigh-tugh-qua, also known as Cornstalk, led similar attacks on western Virginia settlements, starting with attacks in present-day Greenbrier County and extending northward to Berkeley Springs, and into the northern Shenandoah Valley. By the end of July, Indians had destroyed or captured all British forts west of the Alleghenies except Fort Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Fort Niagara. The uprisings were ended on August 6, 1763 when British forces, under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet, defeated Delaware and Shawnee forces at Bushy Run in western Pennsylvania.

During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the Mingo and Shawnee, headquartered at Chillicothe, allied themselves with the British. In 1777, a party of 350 Wyandots, Shawnees and Mingos, armed by the British, attacked Fort Henry, near present-day Wheeling. Nearly half of the soldiers manning the fort were killed in the three-day assault. The Indians then left the area celebrating their victory. For the remainder of the war, smaller raiding parties of Mingo, Shawnee, and other Indian tribes terrorized settlers throughout northern and eastern West Virginia. As a result, European settlement throughout present-day West Virginia, including the Eastern Panhandle, came to a virtual standstill until the war’s conclusion.

Following the war, the Mingo and Shawnee, once again allied with the losing side, returned to their homes. As the number of settlers in present-day West Virginia began to grow, both the Mingo and Shawnee moved further inland, leaving their traditional hunting ground to the white settlers.

In 1670, John Lederer, a German physician and explorer employed by Sir William Berkeley, colonial governor of Virginia, became the first European to set foot in present-day Berkeley County. John Howard and his son also passed through present-day Berkeley County a few years later, and “discovered” the valley of the South Branch Potomac River at Green Spring.

From Wikipedia about Berkeley County, West Virginia.

Posted in Cayuga, Delaware, Huron, Iroquois, Mingoes, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Ottawa, Seneca, Shawnee, Tuscarora, Wyandot | 5 Comments

Indians Along the Susquehanna in the 1670s

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers about 1680

Excerpts from the book, “A History Between the Rivers; The Susquehanna, the Juniata and the Potomac 1609-1958 by C. Arnold McClure.

Page 47 – 1675/76 “…the destruction of the Susquehannocks, a once-powerful group of Indians who had stablished themselves on the lower Susquehanna River and who seem to have served as middlemen in the exchange of beaver skins and European trade goods through the region between the upper Ohio and the Delaware Chesapeake coastal area…destruction caused by epidemic and hostile attacks by Iroquois and whites…” (1)

Page 48 – June 18, 1676 – “They (the Iroquois) are bringing 50 captives (other Indians) from a distance of 200 leagues from here (Onondaga, NY), to whom they have granted their lives because they destine them to work in their fields.” (2)

Page 48 – 1677 – Southern Delaware Indians move into Susquehanna River area and take over trade activities. “Delawares were generally identified as a ‘woman nation’.” Northern Delaware known to be more aggressive. (3)

Page 48 – circa 1677 – Old Susquehanna town near present Conestoga new Indian community formed composed originally of Senecas and Susquehannock captives, then attracting bands of roving Shawnees, Conoys from Maryland and Delawares from further East. (4)

William A. Hunter, “Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier,” 1999 page 5
Letter from Jesuit Priest, Jean de Lamberville, per Charles A. Hanna in “The Wilderness Trail,” 1910
William A. Hunter, “Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier,” 1999 page 4
William A. Hunter, “Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier,” 1999 page 10

Posted in Conoy, Delaware, Iroquois, Seneca, Shawnee, Slaves, Susquehanna | Leave a comment