This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: To many to mention Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/HGB.2ACI/471.2.2.2.1.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Hi Jim: Thank you so much for your reply.When you're dealing with our government offiicals nothing makes sense anymore. My main purpose for collecting information on ancestory has nothing to do with gaining entry into a tribe.Besides I don't need a indian card to tell who and what I am.I'm just me.After the bad experience I had serving on the board with the Mackinac Band in Hessel ,which by the the way is run by the John Causely clan I don't think I want to ever be a member of any tribe anyhow..Terry Weller told me in one of her e-mails that she wasn't to impressed with the enrollment clerk in the Mackinac Band when she went with a friend of hers to the tribes office. My only and soul reason for locating my ancestors is because my father died ten days after my nineth birthday so I wasn't able to learn about his Indian ancestory.My mother didn't talk to much about hers either.I had originally been helping a family member locate information on some of our ancestors and figured I may as well continue the ride since I was so much involved anyhow.As you well know trying to help someone find their ancestory can be very challenging and frustrating at times. People email me quite often asking me to help them find their families.I explain to them that I'm not a researcher.Some provide just bits of pieces of information that I possibily couldn't help them if I wanted to.Some people don't seem to realize that there's lots and lots of people who can share the same common first and last names and such.I've found that to be the case researching my own line where records will show familiy members having the same first name or else the same month and day of birth.It's a common thing. As an example in my situation.I found two Samuel LaBlanc's in the Cheboygan County death records.Not knowing which was which even though I had the year ,month and date of death for both of them I contacted a cousin who told me that one of them was the grandfather and the other one was the grandson. Thanks Again. Cherie