Gee, Harriet, doesn't it make you wonder who "Mary Smith" really was? Part of the problem we have in tracing early California Indians is the switchover in names from real Indian names, such as Tabuce and Totuya, to Christian names, Maggie Howard and Maria Lebrado. The Christian names seem to have been applied pretty much at random by whites who couldn't pronounce or spell the Indian names. Mary or Maria seemed especially popular for Indian women. I got a kick out of the following incident related in Shirley Sargent's "Pioneers in Petticoats": "A Mariposan asked to be taught Indian words, and had difficulty writing down Maria's speech. Maria [Lebrado] laughed, 'You can no spell it? You no can spell what a bird sings.' " (p.12) =================================================== In a message dated 10/16/00 10:27:50 AM Pacific Daylight Time, harriet@madnet.net writes: > > "Mary Smith" > > Madera County Indians – 1928 > > Birth Dates: 1828-1928 > Roll Approved in 1933 Listing the Indians of California > qualified under Sec. 1 of the Act of May 18, 1928. > (Madera County Extracted) > > Bureau of Indian Affairs - Establishing American Indian Ancestry. > > American Indian Resources - Links to further research. > > > http://www.cagenweb.com/~madera/Indians1928.htm > > Smith, Mary 1838, Mar 7 North Fork 18363 > > > ==== CAMARIPO Mailing List ==== > If you have a family chronicle I will be happy to add it on the Mariposa > County GenWeb Page. >