This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: jlakin46 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.lawson/6860.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi all, I agree with Bill. I'd like to add that many Native Americans kept the fact that they were Indians secret due to the restrictions placed on them by the US government. They could not own land and were, in most cased treated as second class citizens. Many Native Americans only whispered the facts of their heritage to their children. This was true even up to my grandfather's time. My Lawsons are NA, but all we had were hints of it in our oral traditions, until we had the DNA test. I have the names of thousands of descendants from our David Lawson b 1803 NC/TN. Considering this, any one who has an oral tradition of NA ancestry should not be put off by not finding their names on any Indian Rolls. Janet 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.