Okay, it pays to listen to your elders when they speak! This weekend, I had the opportunity to take my mom and uncle to visit their younger sister in a rest home in Sacramento. We hadn't seen my uncle since the death of his wife 5 years ago. My aunt in Sacramento hadn't seen him since the funeral of their mother in 1992 in Bakersfield, California. As I drove, I listened to my mom and uncle talk about old times. Soon, memories of their mother came up. My uncle said he really regretted not learning his mom's "Indian talk". It wasn't until her funeral that the family began to realize the opportunity we all missed. When the conversation shifted to my grandmother's father, I inquired "Wasn't his name 'Big Jack' and wasn't he from some Indian tribe called the Pawnee?" Both my uncle and mom began talking at once! It seems that grandmother's father was 'Big John Mays' and he was French and Cherokee Indian. My grandmother's mother was African American and Cherokee! So I need to find out about 'Big John Mays' from Louisiana, not Oklahoma. It seems that he died and left all his property to the state. My grandmother did not go to the funeral and did not understand about the business of inheritance. I think the state of Louisiana took the property back in 1935, for failure of any relative coming forth. Any direction you can give me in my research would be appreciated. Ed Udell Oakland, CA