Roots

During my visit to Indiana, my cousins and I were discussing our roots. My great aunt Mary, who is indeed great (and I'm not just saying that because I heard she reads the blog...she is really cool. She is 80 years old and last year on the cruise, she went parasailing with us. I reckon sky-diving is next), anyway, Mary filled us in on a little family history. As it turns out, my great great grandmother (mom's mom's dad's mom), Stella, was a full-blood Seminole. And not only that, she was the Madame at New Albany's town brothel. Mary is trying to find some photos, and if she does, I'll post them here. The house is long gone now.
I am excited about my native American roots. We figured out that all of us cousins are 1/16 Seminole, actually a little more, because another great-grandfather was part Seminole too. It turns out you have to be at least a quarter to be officially in the tribe, but I am still going to claim my Indian-ness anyway. I knew there must be some reason I disliked Andrew Jackson so much. My cousin Ben said he was going to write to Pres. Jackson's great great grandchildren and ask for compensation, because they are 1/16 responsible for 1/16 of our suffering. I don't want any compensation, but it would've been nice to have gotten some of that good olive skin out of the deal though.
Anyway, I encourage all of you to talk to the people in your families who have been around the longest. They have lots of interesting stories to tell. Thanks, Mary!