This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: jmyoung365 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newjersey.counties.cumberland/2531.2.1.1.1.2.1.2.1.1.1.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Juanita- Let me try to outline where I'm coming from thus far (again I repeat I'm not out to attack you or arbitrarily dismiss your family stories and beliefs in your heritage). 1) I am well aware of the people called Blackfoot in DE at a very early date. I mentioned them earlier in this thread. Perhaps with some research you can connect your ancestors to them. There was a previously thread some time ago on the NJCUMBER mailing list with someone who had family stories of Blackfoot ancestry in Cumberland County, NJ. I was able to establish through census records that the ancestor in question came from DE--the very area of the people called Blackfoot there--so in her case although I didn't find specific proof--there was a distinct possiblity the story COULD be true--her people were in the right place and time to have intermarried with this Indian group called Blackfoot. 2) the people called Blackfoot in DE were NOT connected in any way to the tribe in the Western US and Canada known as Blackfoot. Only the name they were called by is the same. If you read the webpage I sent you the link to thoroughly you will see that is what is written there and it is also what I learned when I previously researched them. 3) The DE people commonly called Blackfoot were actually part of the Nanticoke / Lenni-Lenape people. 4) This is the first time you have mentioned Shawnee involving YOUR ancestors. So the subject of the Shawnee and where they lived and what families they may have interacted with and intermarried with has never been discussed previously in this thread. At an early time (as the website points out) the Shawnee were in this area for a time. 5) Regarding the Carlile Indian School. I can't tell you how many family Indian Maiden stories that can't be verified end up being attritbuted to the Carlisle Indian School. The fact is that the school was started in 1879 and only lasted 30 years. So if an Indian from the Western US or elsewhere who came East because of the school married one of your ancestors that would not have possibly happened prior to 1879 and I think we already have a pretty good fix on who and where your ancestors were after that time. Also, the school was located in Cumberland County, PA, and not Cumberland County, NJ. What I'm trying to do here is place Native American history on one side, and your family history research (including the family stories to some extent) on the other side and have you examine them objectively to see if the history we can prove and the lineage you can document can lead you to learning whether or not the family stories are true or not--the fact is many are mythical, some can't be proven one way or the other, and others are rooted in provable facts. But it takes a lot of objectivity to sort the one from the other. If the history shows it is possible for the Lenni-Lenape or DE Blackfoot branch to have intermarried with your ancestors--that alone by itself doesn't prove they did. It only proves there is the possibility. Your family history research is what will either establish or disprove that. Joan 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.