Author Archives: Roberta Estes

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About Roberta Estes

Scientist, author, genetic genealogist. Documenting Native Heritage through contemporaneous records and DNA.

The Dare Stones, 1 Through 48

The Dare Stones are a series of forty-eight rocks chiseled with messages purporting to be from Eleanor White Dare providing information about the survivors of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Lost Colony who disappeared from Roanoke Island between 1587 and 1590. The stones, discovered … Continue reading

Posted in Croatoan, Georgia, Lost Colony, North Carolina, South Carolina | 16 Comments

Indian by Birth: The Lumbee Dialect

In the 1880s, Hamilton McMillan claimed that the Lumbee descended from Sir Walter Raleigh’s Lost Colony, abandoned on Roanoke Island in 1587.  One of the pieces of evidence to support that allegation is that the language of the Lumbee held … Continue reading

Posted in Lumbee | 1 Comment

Alfred Wilkins, The Old Indian

One of our subscribers, John, send me some family information about Alfred Wilkins.  As it turns out, this family is quite interesting.  These first few paragraphs were provided in the exchange. A manuscript entitled “Walking Upright: The Coharie People of … Continue reading

Posted in Cherokee, Coharie, Croatan (Later Lumbee), Lumbee, Nansemond, Powhatan | 31 Comments

Native American DNA Haplogroups Q and C and the Big Y Test

I’m writing this to provide an update about Native American paternal research, and to ask for your help and support, but first, let me tell you why.  It’s a very exciting time. If you don’t want the details, but you know … Continue reading

Posted in DNA, Education | 4 Comments

Thanksgiving Conundrum

First Thanksgiving at Plymouth Bay (1621) by Jennie A. Brownscombe (1914) Justin Petrone, like me, is a mixed race person with Native American ancestry, although unlike me, initially, he never thought of himself in those terms.  I’ve always known and … Continue reading

Posted in Massachusetts, Massapequa, Mohegan, Pequot, Siwanoy, Wappinger, Wechquaesgeek | 25 Comments

Cherokee Words from 1888 Primer Spoken

In 1821, Sequoyah created the first Cherokee alphabet.  He used 85 characters to represent sounds in the Cherokee language. Reverend Chamberlin procured a printing press and printed hymnals and other books in Cherokee, beginning before the removal and continuing after. … Continue reading

Posted in Cherokee | 2 Comments

Charles “Chief” Albert Bender

Charles Albert “Chief” Bender was born on May 5th, 1883 at the White Earth Chippewa Indian Reservation, Brainerd, Minnesota. He was one of 13 children born to Mary Razor (Indian name: Pay shaw de o quay), who was of half … Continue reading

Posted in Chippewa, Ojibwa, Schools | 7 Comments

Native Amercan Gene Flow – Europe?, Asia and the Americas

Pre-release information from the paper, “Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans” which included results and analysis of DNA sequencing of 24,000 year old skeletal remains of a 4 year old Siberian boy caused quite a stir.  Unfortunately, it was also … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropology, Archaeology, Archaic Indians, Asia, Canada, DNA, Europe, History, Lake Baikal, Maps, Migration, News, Origins, Paleoindians, Research, Teeth | 4 Comments

Hamilton McMillan Revisited

Hamilton  McMillan (1837-1916) Hamilton McMillan, a man with a vision, founded UNC Pembroke, originally a school for Indian children and is viewed as the institution’s founding father.  In 1885, Representative Hamilton McMillan of Robeson County, NC, introduced legislation in the North Carolina … Continue reading

Posted in Chowan, Croatan (Later Lumbee), Croatoan, Hatteras, Lumbee, Mattamuskeet, Nottoway, Tuscarora | 2 Comments

Tecumseh – “Die Like a Hero Going Home”

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things … Continue reading

Posted in Shawnee | 2 Comments