I just finished reading "A Thousand Voices" yesterday, and I loved it. I had randomly picked it from the library online, but now I know it's actually the last book in a series, so after I read the rest of my rather large stack of books, I'll be getting the ones that precede this one.
The main character is a young lady who was adopted at age twelve after a really rough childhood, so that aspect of the story appealed to me since we'll be adopting from foster care. Also, this character knows that her biological father was Choctaw, so she goes to Oklahoma to trace her genetic roots. Her search got me all motivated to start tracing my family tree back as far as I can. I haven't started yet, so if any of y'all have done this and have some helpful hints or websites I should try, please share those with me! One of the aspects of our family that I have always wanted to investigate further is my American Indian ancestors. I know that I have Cherokee on both my mom's side and my dad's side. Dad looks more obviously Cherokee because of his coloring; people come up to him frequently to talk to him about it. He said that happened all the time when he went to New Zealand - maybe New Zealanders have a special interest in American Indians? Although my mom's red hair and green eyes look much more like our Irish ancestors, if you look past that at her face structure and so one, she does still have some of the characteristics. I am a mish-mash of the two.
Anyway, someday I dream of tracing back my Irish ancestors and someday taking a trip there to see some of the places my ancestors may have come from, and for an excuse to tour some really great cottage flower gardens - as well as the cottages that accompany them! Their love for tea wouldn't hurt, either, and I have plans for at least one lovely authentically Irish teapot. Ken's family was originally from England, so there's our great excuse to do the same thing - the cottages and tea and such - in England, too! But I also want to find out about my American Indian ancestors partly just because it seems to be such a mystery. Nearly all of the Cherokee and Choctaws in this area were removed back in the 1800's - the Trail of Tears - but some managed to hide in remote mountain areas or possibly just claim not to be "indian" at all if they were mixed race. My family is from Georgia WAAAAAY back, and did not get removed to Oklahoma. My dad has gotten very mixed messages about his family depending on who was talking. Apparently, up in the tiny town of Talking Rock, where he was born, everybody knew that his great-grandfather was Cherokee. One man in particular, a pastor who did a lot of research about the town, came to Dad one day and told him many of the stories and such that he had found out about our family. Those stories all solidified the "evidence" that his great-grandfather was indeed Cherokee. However, when Dad talked to an uncle who still lived up there, he said there was no Indian in our family at all: just "black Irish" (dark haired Irish people). HA! I know that's at least possible, but I really believe that goes back to the prejudices that generation in particular seemed to have against most non-whites, and it would have been scandalous to admit to being anything other than 100% caucasian. So if I manage to prove any of this, it will likely be very difficult, if not impossible.
So, along with all the organizational projects that I'm itching to start (these things tend to build for a while, and then I suddenly turn into a little obsessed whirlwind of organization and decluttering!), I think I'm going to throw a genealogy project into the mix for myself, too! Oh, also, I've been tinkering with my blog a little lately. If you'd like to do a little tinkering of your own, check out this and this for some helpful tips!
The main character is a young lady who was adopted at age twelve after a really rough childhood, so that aspect of the story appealed to me since we'll be adopting from foster care. Also, this character knows that her biological father was Choctaw, so she goes to Oklahoma to trace her genetic roots. Her search got me all motivated to start tracing my family tree back as far as I can. I haven't started yet, so if any of y'all have done this and have some helpful hints or websites I should try, please share those with me! One of the aspects of our family that I have always wanted to investigate further is my American Indian ancestors. I know that I have Cherokee on both my mom's side and my dad's side. Dad looks more obviously Cherokee because of his coloring; people come up to him frequently to talk to him about it. He said that happened all the time when he went to New Zealand - maybe New Zealanders have a special interest in American Indians? Although my mom's red hair and green eyes look much more like our Irish ancestors, if you look past that at her face structure and so one, she does still have some of the characteristics. I am a mish-mash of the two.
Anyway, someday I dream of tracing back my Irish ancestors and someday taking a trip there to see some of the places my ancestors may have come from, and for an excuse to tour some really great cottage flower gardens - as well as the cottages that accompany them! Their love for tea wouldn't hurt, either, and I have plans for at least one lovely authentically Irish teapot. Ken's family was originally from England, so there's our great excuse to do the same thing - the cottages and tea and such - in England, too! But I also want to find out about my American Indian ancestors partly just because it seems to be such a mystery. Nearly all of the Cherokee and Choctaws in this area were removed back in the 1800's - the Trail of Tears - but some managed to hide in remote mountain areas or possibly just claim not to be "indian" at all if they were mixed race. My family is from Georgia WAAAAAY back, and did not get removed to Oklahoma. My dad has gotten very mixed messages about his family depending on who was talking. Apparently, up in the tiny town of Talking Rock, where he was born, everybody knew that his great-grandfather was Cherokee. One man in particular, a pastor who did a lot of research about the town, came to Dad one day and told him many of the stories and such that he had found out about our family. Those stories all solidified the "evidence" that his great-grandfather was indeed Cherokee. However, when Dad talked to an uncle who still lived up there, he said there was no Indian in our family at all: just "black Irish" (dark haired Irish people). HA! I know that's at least possible, but I really believe that goes back to the prejudices that generation in particular seemed to have against most non-whites, and it would have been scandalous to admit to being anything other than 100% caucasian. So if I manage to prove any of this, it will likely be very difficult, if not impossible.
So, along with all the organizational projects that I'm itching to start (these things tend to build for a while, and then I suddenly turn into a little obsessed whirlwind of organization and decluttering!), I think I'm going to throw a genealogy project into the mix for myself, too! Oh, also, I've been tinkering with my blog a little lately. If you'd like to do a little tinkering of your own, check out this and this for some helpful tips!
