A Paper Trail and Tears of Joy

Thursday, March 21st, 2019     by Debra DuPree Williams     Start the Conversation

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I haven’t posted anything about genealogy lately. I thought you all might like to hear about this. This past Sunday, twenty-five of my cousins were accepted as new members of the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association, or the Nansemond Indian Nation. Here is a link to their site.  https://nansemond.org/history/

Believe me when I tell you that cries of victory were being heard around the country. For such a long time, many of my cousins have sought admission into the Tribe. But for a very long time, they were excluded. It does no good to hash out the whys or wherefores as that is in the past. The thing is, they succeeded in securing what had become for them, a life-long dream.

Twists and Turns

The history of the Nansemond Tribe is one with many twists and turns. Back in the 1600s when foreigners first set foot on American soil, the Nansemond were going about their daily lives pretty much in peace. Now, I don’t claim to know the entire history of the tribe. I do know that Elizabeth was born in 1618 and that in 1638, she married John Bass, an Englishman, born 1616.

Elizabeth was the daughter of the Chief of the Nansemond. She had become Christianized between her birth and the time of her marriage to John Bass. But who knows how many of the traditional ways were still followed? We weren’t there. I can tell you that it is a matrilineal society when it comes to the family. 
Down through the centuries, the Nansemond have married many different ethnic groups and, also, they intermarried with other nearby tribes. Many of the descendants are tri-racial, Native American, African, and European.

Move forward to current times and much is known about the children Elizabeth bore, thanks to DNA testing. She had children by John Bass, two sons, Edward and Richard, who lived to adulthood. She also had a son, William born in 1654, by an African man. DNA shows his descendants carry the A haplogroup, the oldest on the earth. The two sons by John Bass show haplogroup R1b-M269-L47, Scottish heritage, that of Nathaniel Bass, father of John. 

Have Good Records

The Nansemond Indian Nation made the decision last year, shortly after gaining federal recognition, to open their roles to anyone who could produce the records proving that they have a connection to the Nansemond people. In other words, show them your lineage back to Elizabeth—with documented records, original records. No modern-day fake documents will do. You must have good copies of the original papers. Should you decide to do this, be polite. Don’t think you can join and get things. It just doesn’t work that way. Do it for the right reasons-you truly feel a belonging, you already have a connection to the family, you have something to offer. Let me repeat-be polite and gracious. Please!
Now, much of the information you may need is in the hands of the Nansemond, so I have no idea where the twenty-five people who proved their lineage got those papers. I would guess, through years and years of hard work. I only know that, for the ones I know of, they’ve maintained a fairly close relationship with the tribe/family over the years.

Yes, on paper, my line goes back to Elizabeth. She is my seven-times-great grandmother. This may seem like too few greats to be possible, but my grandfather, Wilburn Bass, would be one-hundred-sixty years old this year. He was thirty years older than my grandmother when they married back in 1908. They were married for fifteen years before my mother was born. Her eldest half-brother was twenty-eight. 

Welcome Home

I am so excited for my cousins. They’ve waited a very long time for this. My heart is full at the thought of Grandma Elizabeth looking out over the Nansemond lands and seeing all of her children coming home. As an aside, this just brought tears to my eyes.

Do you have Native American heritage? Do you have a good, good paper trail? Would you want to become a part of your Tribe? Tell us why or why not.

TWEETABLE

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