Hi Tom. My ancestry is Lumbee/Cherokee/Choctaw and I know how difficult Native American research can be. My reference to the Mantooth-Seminole comes from the fact that the Cherokee (and to a large extent the Seminole) were very open to adopting other tribal and racial members as their own--even the slaves were more adoptees than the example seen in white culture. There is a great blending of the Cherokee and Seminole especially after the Removal Act of 1830 and again after 1834; my own ancestors left NC and family lore says that they escaped into the Great Dismal Swamp where they avoided much of the ravages of white contact. Some members of other tribes, which were not in 'good-standing' with the goevrnment, claimed Cherokee blood in order to receive benefits the Cherokee were given for being 'good Indians'. While I have not had a genealogical interest in the Mantooth name, its rarity and having known a family by the name, I tended to notice when I ran across it in my own searches. It just seemed to show up more in the areas of Seminole research than others--southern GA, FL, etc. I'll check back in my notes and see if I still have the references. I also have the Final Dawes and Chillocco School records and I'll check there. Mitzi