Black People : Black Indians

[Blackbird]

Narragansett Sachem (Chief)

Blackbird

 

[Blackbird]

Another Narragansett

 

[Blackbird]

Fidelia Fielding, the last speaker of Mohegan - Pequot dialect.

Blackbird

 

[Omowale Jabali]

Lost Feather

Thanks Blackbird. I have discussed this with my paternal grandmother and I think she called the tribe "Chico" or what sounded like it. lol. However, i spoke with her the other day, and she said her grandmother used to be an "almond and then became a Mcbride." Then I said well maybe she meant Olmec or something. Anyway, I will look into it more. And the pic you put up earlier looks like my mommy! So I am sure her side has native in her, but they don't talk about it.

This looks like my paternal grandmother's people. who i've been talking about.

Bro. Omo-
I can't wait to ck out those links. Thanks for that. My fam is in Chicago by way of Mississippi too.

http://members.tripod.com/pointingbird/lostfeatherintl/id64.htm

 

[Ekua Rising]

This is an informative thread on a subject that isn't talked about much at all. The information here causes me to reconsider some things.

I was recently inquiring into my family background on both sides of my family and where I thought I only had 2 great-grandmothers that were full-blooded Native, its turns out I have 3 now. I was so focused on tracing my roots back to Africa via the plantation to the slave ship that I was shocked to discover more and more Native background. Unfortunately, the trail pretty much ended there, much to my frustration.

My Dad's side of the family is from Mississippi... Macon, Shaqualak, Columbus, all in Lowndes County. His grandmothers on both sides were full-blood Native. Its interesting because his father's mother was dark and she was a mid-wife with hair down to her lap that my Dad's cousin said she would comb and braid for her when she was just a young girl. She was a tall woman and strong. Her husband wasn't alive or gone -- he wasn't spoken about -- even at the cousin's early again. Her last name didn't align with my grandfather's last name which makes me curious also. As for my father's grandmother on his mother's side, I cannot say much about her, but I knew about her from a long time ago. Apparently, great-grandpa had 2 wives... one Native and the other African, and there was rivalry between the offspring of the 2 wives to where they didn't speak to one another. Now, this particular Native wife was lighter-skinned also (a few of my Dad's aunts could have passed and their hair texture was thick and BLACK, but not curly like typical of African hair). Other than that, I don't know anything else about her.

On my Mom's side, my grandmother is from Missouri and from what my Mom remembers, she has always been there. It's my grandfather who came up from Mississippi and met my grandmother there. His mother is full-blood Native but my Mom can't remember from where in Mississippi. She just remembers her being a tall woman. She doesn't know about my grandfather's father at all.

So here I am.... with not much else to go on. I hate that the trail suddenly stops, but I'm sure I'll find out more. I'm still trying to get in touch with other relatives who may be able to tell me more.

As for that tidbit on the Mongolian Spot.... wwooooowwww... cuz I have it as well. I always thought it was just a general birthmark... albeit in the most unusual place. I used to wonder if it meant I had a tail or something when I was born. I even cracked jokes about having a natural tatoo back there when so many women were getting the lower back tatoos... lol.

Definitely thanks for the insight and links provided here. I had been generally told to ignore the "Indian" in my family and focus only on the African, but I see now where this could be an error.

Its also funny how that last picture of Fedelia Felding reminds me of my aunt who was like a second mother to me. Those slanted eyes and cheekbones could have been hers. That Narragansett pic looks like one of my uncles on my Mom's side too... lol