Mailbag Archive

QUESTIONMy guess is that you receive dozens upon dozens of emails from people searching for cure alls…I’m 37 and have found a point in my life where I have found that modern technology, medicine and Spirituality just don’t fit my…

QUESTION:
My Grandpa married an Indian Princess. Can you get me my Indian enrollment card and how much will it cost?
Submitted by Elizabeth J.

Answer:

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1. Sorry, no. That's the short answer.We get some variation of this question at least 50 times a week. We don't even have time to read them all, let alone answer them. There are people who make a living researching other people's ancestry for a fee. We don't. We make our living publishing this website, and that's a full time job.

But occasionally, (like now) we will give you some general information (again) that may help you get started doing your own research or at least teach you how to inquire for information.
Continue to Can you get me my Indian enrollment card? →

In lieu of a mailbag question today, we are reporting on tribes hit by Hurricane Katrina. –Submitted by Indianz.com.Continue to What tribes were affected by Hurricane Katrina? →

Question:
I was told in order to prove that I am Seminole, I have to take a blood test that has something to do with blood quantum but that test is so expensive. Do you have any suggestions?
--Submitted by Halfbreed
Continue to Will a DNA test prove my blood quantum for enrollment in the Seminole tribe? →

Question:Would you know the meaning of the words Wha-she-sho-wee-ko? A Lakota Souix I know said it meant crazy white man. But someone else said complete idiot. I’m beginning to think the latter. But I was watching the series Into the…

QUESTION: I plan to hunt pheasants in South Dakota the 2nd week of Nov. I am interested in the hunting opportunities that may be available on the Crow Creek Reservation. Please send me any info you may have. Also, I…

QUESTION: As close as I have come to knowing a base language comes from the “AthaPaskan” region. I am “Wailaki” and i know other tibes share the same variety of language ie: Nongatl,Lassik,Sinkyone,and Kato.If anyone has any information to help…

I have been asked to make a costume for a young student who will be portraying Chief Washakie at her elementary school. I would like the costume to be as authentic as possible. Can you help me find appropriate representations?
--Submitted by Miki P.

Answer:
Linguistically, the Shoshone and the Paiute are a Numic people with direct linkages to the Comanche and Utes (Uto-Aztecan) to the south, to the Bannock to the east, and to the western Nevada and northern California Paiutes.

The Western Shoshone (the Newe) and the Northern Paiute (Numa) often had contact with each other and established respect for each other’s language and mingling of culture prior to European contact.

Chief Washakie was the last free roaming chief of the Eastern Shoshone. In many photographs, Chief Washakie is wearing a scarf threaded through a large silver concho disc.
Continue to Can you help me find appropriate representations of Chief Washakie? →

QUESTION:Where is Sitting Bull buried?–Submitted by Robby J.Continue to Where is Sitting Bull buried? →

Question: What does the hummingbird represent to native american people?–Submitted by Clara D.Continue to What does the hummingbird represent to native american people? →

Question: Why are the Lytton Indians named as such? I am a Lytton and I am curious why these Indians were named after a very British surname. –Submitted by James L.Continue to How did the Lytton Indians get their name?…

Question: Do you know where I could get information about the Wincot tribe that supposedly lived in the Grand Rapids, MI area 1,000 years or so ago? I was told by an archeologist they existed. –Submitted by Faye W.Continue to…

Question:

Please, I have a question. I'm living in Spain, and my english isn't good. Today do there exist some reserve with native indians in America?

--Submitted by Eva X.J. from Spain

Answer:

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There are over 600 Indian tribes still living in the US and several hundred more in Canada. Some tribes have less than 10 members such as some of the California tribes which are nearly extinct, and some tribes have thousands of members.
Continue to Do Indians still live on reservations in America today? →

QUESTION:
I am a relative of the late Chief Washita, of the Shoshone tribe. He had a daughter who married Jim Bridger, Her indian name is Little Fawn and they had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth, that is my great great great great grandmother.

I have the history on Jim Bridger, but I want to know the history on Chief Washita and his family and where I really come from. I am Shoshone Indian, and I live in Oklahoma. Any help is greatly appericated in trying to trace my indian roots.

Any information on the shoshone tribe? I am not sure where we come from. I have been told it was the Duck Bill Reservation in Wyoming, or the Wind River Reservation, so I am not sure. Any help or information is greatly appericated,
--Submitted by lace_431961
Continue to Do you know anything about Chief Washita’s family? →

QUESTION:What does the word “Washoe” mean? ANSWER:As is the case with the names most Indian tribes called themselves, “Washoe” means simply “the People,” and was also used to describe the area they lived in. If you stop to think about…

QUESTION:I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I would like to know more about the ceremony performed for those who have passed over due to suicide. I am a hospice nurse and feel the presence of a…

QUESTION:What local issues are the Caribou Inuits facing today? Is there much government help regarding these issues?Continue to What local issues are the Caribou Inuits facing today? →

QUESTION:Can anyone tell me when western shoshone (ely area) first made contact with europeans and how that effected their lives? I have Jedediah Smith in 1827 but do not know if he was actually in the Ely area.Continue to When…

QUESTION:I’m doing research on the branch of the Sioux tribe called Lakotas. I’ve seen the name spelled both as Lakhota and Lakota. Which is the correct spelling?Continue to Which is the correct spelling, Lakhota or Lakota? →

QUESTION: I am trying to locate images of the storyteller. I remember seeing a figure with children around it. Is that what they look like? Can you help me?Continue to What does a storyteller look like? →

QUESTION: Do you have any information on what the flags mean at grand entries and the specific purpose?Continue to What do the flags in a grand entry mean? →

QUESTION:Why do people yell “Geronimo” before jumping off something? This article has moved to our new Apache section under Why do we yell Geronimo?Continue to Why do people yell Geronimo? →

Question
Do you have any information on the Choctaw tribe: where they are now and what language they spoke?
Continue to Do you have any information on the Choctaw tribe? →

QUESTION:

I am doing genealogy...researching a Blackfoot Lakota Sioux relative. Other relatives dispute this relative being Blackfoot or Blackfoot Lakota Sioux because of where she met and married her husband. Marriage MAY have occured at Lake Michigan.

Can you give me any information on where the Blackfoot or Blackfoot Lakota Sioux tribes lived (in Canada and US) during this time frame?
Continue to Where did the Blackfoot Sioux live in the 1700-1800s? →