# Native / Apache Mamas- Chiricahua Apaches?



## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Hi. I have posted before about being a native white (I guess if some people can be "white natives" then I am a "native white" because I look native American and all my relatives from that side live where natives used to live, but because we don't have any papers- they were burned when all the re-education was going on







we don't have any way to get a "number") and now having done some more looking, it seems we are probably Chiricahuas, almost certainly Apache. 'Course the matriarch insists we are Spanish to the last drop.

ANYWAY- as it turns out, the Chiricahua are not a federally recognized tribe. I knew for some time we were probably Chiricahua but did not check anything and just assumed that was a recognized tribe. So apparently my people are still at war with the U.S. since we never signed a peace treaty as a specific group.







Sounds like my relatives.

I am going to do genetic testing through my dad and mine my aunt for more names and try to go to the LDS databases for more proof. I have always maintained that I don't want a NUMBER or money, so it's really cool if my tribe could not possibly give me that anyway. At least nobody will assume that's what we want.

Well, my BIL *does* want that, which is why he'd pay for part the testing to be done if I promised to do my work to get papers, so they'd probably go for "just" Apache, but whatever.









So my question is, any other Chiricahua mamas out there? Are you involved in getting recognition? Where can I go to meet tribal elders (in person) if there is no reservation?

Who's in charge?


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## bumblecat (Mar 15, 2009)

Wow, it is great to see this post. I never usually look in this forum but just happened to and I am in a similar position and also starting research to be able to enroll in my tribe, which is Lipan Apache. My father's side is descended from one of their most notable chiefs. I know this, but now I have to prove it. I have never done any genealogical research so I am a little overwhelmed with the idea since I am in the middle of my first pregnancy and also have a lot of things I want to spend time researching in regards to that, as well as having just moved and trying to get the new home to feel like home.

Anyway, I am closer to affirming the lineage of my family than any of my relatives have gotten, that I know of. I just need to find documentation of my great-grandmother and her father's birth dates and places. I wrote to the tribal historian and she said it was very likely that I am descended from the same chief as their current tribal leader, just from what info I had - which was my great-grandmother's name and her father's name and approximately when they lived and where they lived.

The Lipan Apaches were federally recognized in March of this year. So recent!

It would be great to know how you go about finding info if/when you do. I plan on visiting an LDS facility soon too but I don't really know what to expect to find there.


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Oh wow, how cool.

Isn't it funny how it all changes when we have kids? Before it was enough to tell people, "I look like this because I probably have a little Cherokee in me." Now I want something solid to give my babies, especially the one who looks like me.

Congratulations on the recognition of your tribe! That's awesome! How exciting.

I, too, know very little about LDS facilities but I figure since all the Mormons who ever came to my house were very polite and decent people it can't _hurt_.







Everyone I know who has done serious genealogy has gone through them so it must be informative. Honestly their contribution to this nation's genealogy is remarkable. They should get some kind of award. (I guess they do, in heaven!







)

Anyway, let me know. I have a lot of work to do to get to where you are but I am going to try. The fact that the tribe has work to do really inspires me because it is about something more than me, something I can give to a community to be a part of it, so hopefully I won't just forget about it. That came off wrong. I won't forget... I mean I don't want to get distracted.


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## bumblecat (Mar 15, 2009)

well if your tribe has an official tribal historian or genealogist, I would suggest contacting them with any names you have of people who would have been around at the turn of the century or earlier - I started by calling up my grandparents who are fortunately still living, and asking them for their parent's and grandparent's names, which I had never known before, and asked them where they each were born and if they knew where their parents were born. I got some answers there but they don't have any papers or anything so I have to try to find something affirming the things they told me. But when I contacted the tribal historian, she actually sent me an email back with an attachment that had information about my great-great grandfather that they had found in some south texas church records. It's up to me to prove my relation to him, but it was helpful to get the info they had.

good luck! I feel like I am opening the door for a lot of people to learn about this part of their heritage since my grandmother is one of 7 children who all have children and grandchildren who do not know who they are. there are 11 of us in my generation alone just from my grandmother. I don't know any of hersiblings or their kids, but I'm sure there are quite a few!


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

That's awesome. I will ask my aunt and grandma... soon... tonight must do dishes and get ready to go out. I am thinking I will just start asking them to fill in the blanks right on the request for certificate of degree form, whether or not I intend to send it in. Then if someone wants to, she can just take that.

There are seven in my generation, but in the next generation, there are already ten, and that's from my grandmother. From her mother, there must be at least fifty of us now.

It's great to talk to someone about this... thanks a lot.


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