Are We Part American Indian?
I love hearing stories about the family. However, I've learned that while family stories are usually based on truth, they may not be fully accurate or provable.
One reason for this is fawlty memories. We may recall one event vividly, but another is murky. Sometimes we get one memory mixed up with a similar event. Sometimes people hear something in childhood, and believe that a fictional story was true, or that a story about someone else was actually about someone in the family. If you are recording family history, how can you tell which is which? These are all reasons why I tell myself that "a short pencil is better than a long memory", and I write as much down as I can. Even if it's not accurate, it won't change over time once it's recorded on paper (or on computer disk).
If memories can be difficult to prove accurate, what about family stories that are passed down from generation to generation? They can be frustrating and often impossible to verify.
One such story in the Carson-Rogers family says that we are part American Indian. The way that I've heard it most consistently is that Kathleen Carson's mother, Blanche Wheeler, was part Indian. Is this family story true?
Luckily, we have photos of Blanche, and living grandchildren, which all testify to the fact that Blanche does indeed have features associated with American Indians. If Blanche is part American Indian, then one of her parents must have also been part Indian, or possibly full-blood American Indian. If not, then their parents or grandparents must be part or full-blood American Indian, and so on, until the actual introduction of Indian blood into our family. Can we prove the link?
The U.S. Census was supposed to record the race of the individuals enumerated. For Blanche, her parents, and her maternal grandparents, census records have been found. Unfortunately, none of them list a family members' race as anything other than White. Does this prove that none of them were American Indian? No. We've already seen that census records contain many errors. It's also possible that a family would not want to self-identify themselves as American Indian.
I have checked numerous American Indian census records and tribal member lists. I have not found any relative of ours by a name that we would recognize today.
So, is this story true or false? According to my dentist, we should keep looking!
Try this: Run your tongue side to side across the roof of your mouth. Is the roof of your mouth a smooth upside-down U shape, or is there a notch running from directly behind your front teeth straight back to your soft palate? If, like me, you feel this notch, then you have Palatina Torus. According to my dentist, a Palatina Torus is more commonly found in people who are descended from American Indians or Eskimo's.
A proven link to our Indian heritage remains elusive. However, the circumstantial evidence provides encouragement to keep looking.
One reason for this is fawlty memories. We may recall one event vividly, but another is murky. Sometimes we get one memory mixed up with a similar event. Sometimes people hear something in childhood, and believe that a fictional story was true, or that a story about someone else was actually about someone in the family. If you are recording family history, how can you tell which is which? These are all reasons why I tell myself that "a short pencil is better than a long memory", and I write as much down as I can. Even if it's not accurate, it won't change over time once it's recorded on paper (or on computer disk).
If memories can be difficult to prove accurate, what about family stories that are passed down from generation to generation? They can be frustrating and often impossible to verify.
One such story in the Carson-Rogers family says that we are part American Indian. The way that I've heard it most consistently is that Kathleen Carson's mother, Blanche Wheeler, was part Indian. Is this family story true?
Luckily, we have photos of Blanche, and living grandchildren, which all testify to the fact that Blanche does indeed have features associated with American Indians. If Blanche is part American Indian, then one of her parents must have also been part Indian, or possibly full-blood American Indian. If not, then their parents or grandparents must be part or full-blood American Indian, and so on, until the actual introduction of Indian blood into our family. Can we prove the link?
The U.S. Census was supposed to record the race of the individuals enumerated. For Blanche, her parents, and her maternal grandparents, census records have been found. Unfortunately, none of them list a family members' race as anything other than White. Does this prove that none of them were American Indian? No. We've already seen that census records contain many errors. It's also possible that a family would not want to self-identify themselves as American Indian.
I have checked numerous American Indian census records and tribal member lists. I have not found any relative of ours by a name that we would recognize today.
So, is this story true or false? According to my dentist, we should keep looking!
Try this: Run your tongue side to side across the roof of your mouth. Is the roof of your mouth a smooth upside-down U shape, or is there a notch running from directly behind your front teeth straight back to your soft palate? If, like me, you feel this notch, then you have Palatina Torus. According to my dentist, a Palatina Torus is more commonly found in people who are descended from American Indians or Eskimo's.
A proven link to our Indian heritage remains elusive. However, the circumstantial evidence provides encouragement to keep looking.
posted by Steve | 12:00 PM
2 Comments:
I have that! Mine is very prominent. I didn't think it was different (I've had it all my life) until Mom told me that her dentist said the roof of her mouth was unusual. When she described it, then showed me the roof of her mouth, I told her mine was that way too!
I'll have to find out if my siblings, Tami, Michael and Heather, have it.
Very neat to know there are other Carson's who have this strange deformity. My denist says it's a little rare, and if I ever had to have false teeth, I would have to have that part leveled surgically. Ouch! Good reason to take good care of our teeth.
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