New twist

While doing my research on my ancestry I found a new twist. I knew there was a Narragansett/Pequot connection.  Originally I thought that there was more Narragansett than Pequot, not true, more Mashantucket Pequot than Narragansett. Now I find, that it seems some ancestors were among the people of the northeast who traveled west to avoid the new comers. There are a group of Natives with my family name who ended up in the Ojibwe tribe (many did from that region). The hard part is finding if they mingled in enough to mix blood and if that blood came back to my neck of the woods.

All of this is fascinating, and at the same time I can see why people charge an arm and a leg for tracing your family tree for you. I did research some on Ancestry,com, but the issue there is that you sometimes have to rely on other people's research, and I have found much of it to be faulty. There are also many times when a common name is so popular it is hard to figure out just which one of them is yours! People also have a tendency to pick the "famous" or infamous, out of the group and add that person to their tree, even if they don't really belong there, and then the "mistake" is compounded.

The good thing is that you find what records are available and can research on your own without using anyone else's information. I didn't think college was much fun, but it sure taught me how to research properly.

Tracing a family tree when there was a break in the family is even harder, or when many have passed on and kept the information. I have pictures of family members in Scotland, but I have no idea who they are!

Puzzles of any sort are good for the brain, and the soul. Taking the time to research and to really learn something, is good for the soul. Finding interesting and fun things is too. There is so much knowledge and information out there, and cyberspace is full of things to absorb. The hard part is separating the wheat from the chaff. Make sure that you are gathering good information, and research properly. Do not pass on information, even by adding it to your family tree, if it is not correct in its' entirety.

Take a moment each day to read a book. Not the newspaper, which is filled with so much bias and misinformation, but a book. Read books that are written by accredited people, and always THINK while reading them. Do not take anything as 100% gospel truth, even the gospel isn't the gospel.

Learn, teach and grow!

Peshaui Wequashimese


(C)2011 Dr. R M Reiter Wolf . May not be used, copied or reproduced without prior written permission.