This project really opened my eyes to how human my family is and was as I was growing up. When you're young, you don't notice the behind the scenes activities going on. Life is pretty much just presented to you and you have no worries. While doing this project and talking to family members, I found out how hard things were. I guess now they feel I am old enough to hear about adult stuff.
To obtain my information, I opened up my Grandmother's old photo box up and started sorting through. The pictures went back as far as about 1955 when my Gramps was stationed in California and my Gramma was working out there. I picked out the best pictures and took these to different people in my family and had them tell me stories about the people in the pictures. The stories flowed after that.
In chronological order, i found out that my great great grandfather left Oklahoma when the Bureau of Indian Affairs tried to give him an allotment. He went to Mexico with many other Kickapoos, however some stayed behind. His daughter, my great grandmother, came back to Oklahoma and she and her husband farmed the land that was alloted to her father. They had my grandfather and he eventually went to California and met my grandmother. They had my mom and three other children and eventually my mom had me. That is also my family tree summed up quickly.
My family is very traditional Native American, however, out of her generation (her siblings and cousings) my mother is the only one who married a Native American. We all identify as Native American, but I'm not sure if anyone except me from my generation will identify as Native American. It looks like much culture will be lost by myself and my cousins, who are all boys.
Hyperlinks: www.kickapootribeofoklahoma.com
www.winnebagotribe.com
www.news-star.com
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