I hope someone might comment on this. I have heard references in conversation and discussions while I was in Louisiana and Mississippi about in the past ( probably the early 1900s) about people claiming there ancestry had been denied them and/or taken from them as far as the federal government recognizes those it certifies as a member of a federally recognized tribe.Ane some of these people filed lawsuits , I think in state courts, maybe it was federal courts to have them declared as a member of the tribe they laid claim to. But it seems that from what I have heard no ne was ever declared by the courts as a member of that tribe. can anyone comment on what I might have been hearing as i have described. Did this also happen in Oklahoma? thanks james Brown

James: I believe you are referring to the infamous "Lawyer Weir" cases. Attorney W. T. Weir in Philadelphia, Mississippi claimed to be able to get a group of descendants of Mississippi Choctaws enrolled as members of the tribe. He was involved in other cases as well, among them the case involving the Spindletop oil field mineral case and the heirs of Pelham Humphries. In a nutshell, after collecting much information trying to 'prove' in court the legitimacy of these Choctaws, no one was ever admitted. He charged a fee in advance for his services and many descendants paid him. A couple of years ago we had a discussion on these cases and here is one except from that discussion. If you search our archives you can probably find the other listings. Try around May and June of 2003: My records show he signed documents "W.T. Weir". The records of the WEIR actions can be found in RG 279, Docket #1790, 171, Box 1724, Entry 11UD under "Records of the Pascagoula, Biloxi and Mobilian Consolidated Indians". The WEIR family has descendants still in the county. The last I heard (a couple of years ago) a couple of daughters still hold many valuable records pertaining to these cases, but refuse to let anyone go through them. The family is very sensitive regarding their ancestor's actions in the past and are hoping the day will come when descendants of those Choctaws he dealt with will stop hounding them. His hand-written notes done in the various meetings with the council of the PBM appear that he had good intentions of making recovery for these people. They show that he was gathering information on which families had been defrauded by the government. The librarians in Newton county have worked very hard to build a good relationship with his descendants hoping that they will eventually turn over these important historical documents. dusty List Admin.