Native American Heritage Month: Research Part I: Getting Started

Any month is important when learning more about personal Native American heritage. November is Native American Heritage Month. The National Congress of American Indians states it’s more commonly “referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.” The White House issued a proclamation about it, as have some states, like my own state of […]

Indian Boarding school tragedy in the U.S. A day of remembrance.

Today is National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools. It’s a day to remember the mostly tragic things that happened to children torn from their families. I have read through textual records at several locations of the U.S. National Archives (NARA) that relate to boarding schools, page by page, folder by folder. I […]

Born on this land but Native Americans had to be granted the right to citizenship

My first blog post was on 2 June 2007. My life has been blessed with many freedoms and passions. Today I choose not to recap past blog posts, but to talk about something that still blows my mind. As many of you know, I have been involved in deep research in original records related to […]

The Interior Department now led by a Native American: Deb Haaland!

Opinions ahead. Some of you may know that I am involved with Native American historical and genealogical research and related work. I have been working with Tribes and law firms since the early 1990s. I have read thousands of pages of documents in the National Archives, historical societies, other archives, and online that have made […]

Webinar: Sources and Methods for Researching Native American Ancestors

The Houston Public Library’s Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research along with the Clayton Library Friends are hosting my presentation on October 23, 2020 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. CDT via Zoom. I will cover the basics of a variety of Tribes and areas. It’s time to get started on your indigenous heritage research. From the website: […]

June 2, 2007 till now. That’s a lot of genealogy blogging for me!

2007 seems so long ago. Both of my parents were still alive. I lived in Saint Paul. Many changes have taken place in life and my residence since then. Yes, I am still in Minnesota. I’ve been busy with my genealogy business of research for clients, consultations to get clients going, and lecturing all across […]

Native American genealogy webinar now online for free (6 more days)

The webinar I presented on November 19th is now available for everyone for free. After the next 6 days, you will need a Legacy Family Tree Webinars subscription to view this webinar. The recording of the webinar “Native American Research: Things You May Not Know” was sponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG). […]

Indigenous Peoples Day is an appropriate title for this federal “holiday”

Today’s blog post is pretty much a soapbox post. Today is Indigenous Peoples Day in Minnesota. As a Minnesota resident, I am proud to say that. In 2016, then Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton issued a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples Day. Many localities and some states have replaced the Columbus Day “holiday” with Indigenous Peoples Day. […]