This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: jantrevor Surnames: Griffin Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.griffin/6802.2.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi, thanks for posting about your family. This is good information and helpful for others on your line. So far, (of 33 total respondents) the survey is averaging between 28-33% of Griffin families reporting an oral and/or documented history of Native American ancestry within the Griffin line. (Most report Cherokee, then Creek or Choctaw). And yet, of all the respondents, 90% of Griffin families so far would currently characterize their family as White. This in part answers the question I had as a child "Where did all the Indians go?" It would appear, for some of us, we are their descendants...albeit having lost almost all knowledge of this heritage. Also note, based on Indian Removal records, of the Griffin/en/ith families who were actually removed and were recorded on the rolls, the tribal breakdown based on their reported ancestry is 47.6% Cherokee, 52.4% Choctaw. So...so far, the Choctaw is underrepresented in the survey results if those that were not removed were generally similar in population to those that were. In any event, all this is significant from a genealogical perspective in that it indicates that after the end of the Colonial period (the period of time where some of our Griffin relatives were living/in among Indian territories that these families may have changed how they where characterized on census or goverment records. Considering the consequences for persons of Native American or mixed ancestry during the Indian Removal period, one cannot blame them. It is during this period that some families began characterizing themselves as "Black Irish", "Black Dutch", and possibly "Melungeon" or "Portuguese" (pron. then as "Portygee") (see wikipedia for more information) as a way to dismiss some Native American features, poss. darker skin or Asian looking eyes for some members of a family. It is important to note that within the same family, there might have been darker, almost Mediterranean looking members and others fair and auburn haired. This is still playing out in my family today. My son, 7 generations removed had decidedly asian looking eyes...and yet is very fair skinned. Other relatives are very olive complected with thick dark hair. So, prior to say 1850, some of these families may have been characterized as Indian, possibly even Mulatto as during that period Mulatto could mean a mixture of any type. For those families who have been stuck during the colonial time period without being able to find the next generation back, they may want to begin looking for their ancestors on other documents which are not exclusive to Whites for the same time period (ie. Census records for Free Persons of Color, Indian Removal Records, etc.) For southern lines, this is particularly consistent with the history of the regions they were in (very early NC, GA, Alabama, TN) but this is not to say that similar patterns weren't playing out on Northern Migration routes, I'm just not as familiar with them. To learn more about the "Indian Countrymen" or "Metis" by the French as they were called during this time period...several books are recommended: Creek Country: The Creek Indians and Their World by Robbie Franklyn Ethridge Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South (Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lectures) by Theda Perdue (Paperback - Mar. 28, 2005) A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814 (Fire Ant Books) by Gregory A. Waselkov (Paperback - Sept. 28, 2009) Researchers can also search Google Books for "Indian Countrymen" and "Metis" for various early documents from the period. For me, since posting the survey and my family tree and their story, I was contacted by another researcher on my family line and she was able to produce a photo of one of her "Indian Griffins" which I compared with mine...both having descended from the same family (Benjamin Griffin Mary Polly Bird). Both have decidedly Indian features and would have been photographed between 1860-1880. So, I am hopeful that posting all this information will lead to contacts on other lines to help people get just a few more small clues. If you're a Griffin and would like to take the survey, but have not yet done so, please visit this link: http://www.visualmediaworx.com/gone to texas.htm Thanks to all for their responses and happy searching Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.