NAFPS Forum

heyyyyyy.....i was born in santa cruz.....my dad was stationed at pigeon point

https://longhouse.uoregon.edu/history-many-nations-longhouse

Thoughts?

I found a podcast in which Leah is significantly more forthcoming about her claimed background then in prior interviews. She claims to "hold a status card in Canada" and that she's "part Lebanese." This is a big find because it proves Leah has a tenuous relationship with the truth. Leah is NOT Lebanese...not even a tiny bit.

If Leah has a Canadian status card, why hasn't she been sharing that fact more openly? Through which tribe is she eligible for status? This is what a Canadian status card looks like: https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1100100032424/1572461852643#s2-2. Leah lied about being Lebanese. Why wouldn't she lie about having Indian status in Canada?

Transcription begins around 7:30.

"I’m from a tribe in Canada. I’m also Metis, which is French Canadian-mixed-Indian, and I’m part Lebanese. It’s a very interesting mix. So, you know having the Hebrew part of it and then my father was non-Indian. So, I have this wonderful, beautiful mix of cultures all put together in who I am and I’m kind of lucky I get to pick and choose what works best for me from each one of– each one of these. My tribe is in Canada. So, I hold a status card in Canada. I don’t in the United States. But it doesn’t make me not an Indian in the United States, you know. Either you are or you aren’t, and for me, I’m an Indian."

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Source: First Nations Algonquin-Metis and Anishinaabe Heritage with Leah Yellowbird, 2019
Direct Link: https://audio.holdenvillage.org/presentation/first-nations-algonquin-metis-and-anishinaabe-heritage-with-leah-yellowbird/

I too chased her ancestry back to about the early-mid 1800's (which sounds like you went back even further) paying a little more attention to her mother's Canadian side since there is the claim of Metis.  I got back to a Teresa/Thereza Hough who would be Leah's great-great-grandmother born in the late 1860's and the only item of interest I found was on the 1891 Canadian census, Teresa's family lived near some Anishinaabe people.  The family is listed as Catholic while the Indigenous folks are listed as "Pagan" but they are not in the same household or appear to live immediately next to each other.  I don't think this helps much but any art board should be demanding proof of her lineage.  I tried to pick out which aunt she is referring to but none of the aunts make sense with what she is claiming, her mother's sister is still alive from what I can tell but she refers to the aunt who taught her beadwork as having passed.

Thank you for looking at Leah Yellowbird’s genealogy, ojib22. It's nice to have another set of eyes on it. I traced the paternal and maternal sides of Leah's family. 3 of 4 grandparents have ancestors that passed through Canada (paternal grandmother, paternal grandfather, and maternal grandmother). I focused on researching those lines in an attempt to corroborate Leah's claims. 

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PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: The Canadian lines of both paternal grandparents lead directly to Quebec. In my opinion, based on publicly available information, there isn't any Native American ancestry matching Leah’s claims on this side of her family. Could there be a line that traces back to someone recorded as "Indian Woman" in the late-1600's or early to mid-1700's? Possibly. That wouldn’t be consistent with Leah’s claims though.

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MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER: As ojib22 mentioned, the maternal grandmother’s family did live near an Anishinaabe community in Ontario. In my opinion, based on publicly available records, Leah’s maternal grandmother's family isn't Anishinaabe though. Leah’s maternal ancestors came to Ontario from Quebec which can be confirmed through census, birth, and baptism records. The family was Quebecois/French Canadian...not Anishinaabe, Algonquin, and/or Metis.

RESEARCH NOTE: I spent additional time researching Leah’s 3x great-grandfather, Joseph Alexis Gagnon, due to his recorded occupation on one census. Joseph Alexis Gagnon’s occupation was documented as “moccasin maker” on the 1891 Census of Canada. Despite his occupation, the fields I bolded on the census below indicate Joseph Alexis Gagnon was French Canadian (White).

1891 Census of Canada
Name...............................Alexis Gagnon
Gender.............................Male
Marital Status...................Married
Age.................................50
Birth Year.........................abt 1841
Birth Place.....................Quebec
Residence Date.................1891
Residence Place................Quyon Village, Pontiac, Quebec, Canada
Religion............................Roman Catholic
Occupation.......................Moccassin Keeper*
Can Read..........................Y
Can Write..........................Y
French Canadian.............Yes
Spouse............................Susan Gagnon
Father's Birth Place........Quebec
Mother's Birth Place........Quebec

*Transcription Error: I believe the record was transcribed incorrectly and actually reads “moccasin maker”.

I searched the 1891 Census of Canada for the keyword “moccasin” to compare demographics of anyone with a moccasin-related occupation. 8 people (not including Joseph Alexis Gagnon) came up in search results as having the word "moccasin" in their occupation title.  4 of 8 were clearly non-Native American as their parents were born in Europe. 3 of 8 had parents born in Ontario and, upon further research, listed their racial or tribal origins as Scottish, English, and Dutch. 1 of the 8 was denoted as being French Canadian. Clearly, having a moccasin-related occupation on the 1891 Census of Canada isn't indicative of Native American ancestry.

Susanna Sinclair - Moccasin Maker
Birthplace of Mother: Scotland
Birthplace of Father: Scotland

Jane McClure – Moccasin Maker
Birthplace of Mother: Ireland
Birthplace of Father: Ireland

Mina Black – Moccasin*
Birthplace of Mother: England
Birthplace of Father: England
*Occupation recorded only as “moccasin” on original census document

John Agnew – Moccasin Silker
Birthplace of Mother: Scotland
Birthplace of Father: Ireland

Maud Mason – Moccasin Tucke (sic)   
Birthplace of Mother: Ontario
Birthplace of Father: Ontario
Notes: On the 1921 Census of Canada, Maud’s racial or tribal origin is documented as “Dutch”

Warner Nicklin – Moccasin Finisher
Birthplace of Mother: Ontario
Birthplace of Father: Ontario
Notes: On the 1921 Census of Canada, Warner’s racial or tribal origin is documented as “English”

Elizabeth Werden – Moccasin Silker
Birthplace of Mother: Ontario
Birthplace of Father: Ontario
Notes: On the 1931 Census of Canada, Elizabeth’s racial origin is documented as “Scottish”

Clara Levins – Moccasin Maker
Birthplace of Mother: Not recorded
Birthplace of Father: Not recorded
French Canadian: Yes

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I have no idea if Leah is aware of this census or if it's had any bearing on her claims. If there was any question about Leah Hanson AKA Leah Yellowbird being Native American due to her 3x great-grandfather being listed as a moccasin maker on the 1891 Census of Canada, hopefully this resolves it though.

Leah should be able to provide specifics about her claimed Native American ancestry. Who are her people?  What Anishinaabe community is her family from? What does she mean by “Algonquin-Metis”? It’s a huge red flag that she’s never specified a community or tribe.

141 recognized tribes have come out against Lumbee recognition. There was a bill which also would have recognized the MOWA, who we have a thread on. The Lumbee are not really like the obvious fakes the MOWA. But it does show recognition is pretty broken.

There have only been a few tribes recognized recently even though there are plenty that deserve it, most of them applying in California and Alaska and any tribe that lost it in the 50s during Termination. Though they are legit, the Pequot were the first to sidestep the Office of Federal Acknowledgement. It can take 20 years and cost millions, and most of the ones that deserve it just don't have the means.

The Pequot obviously got approved because of money they made for so many. It's likely the same with Lumbee. Possible casinos or resources. As bad as Trump is, Harris favored recognition for them too.

DNA says the Lumbee are mostly Black and white mixed, with under 10% of them having Native ancestry. So what? There's plenty of others that are, most of the tribes here in Virginia, the Pequot, to a lesser extent the Seminole, and tribes in Latin America like the Garifuna. All of them are made up of multiple tribes shattered by invasion that had to join together to survive and adopted outsiders, esp Black slaves and sometimes whites running from the authorities.

Problem is the Lumbee have changed their stories of who they are several times. They've claimed to be Tuscarora, Cherokee, and Croatan before they were Lumbee. Those 141 tribes are mainly worried this will break the recognition process, let anyone in if there's money to be made or votes to help swing a politician's election. Plus Trump's people are openly challenging Native citizenship itself. They already argued before the courts the 14th Amendment doesn't or shouldn't protect either immigrants or enrolled Natives.