NAFPS Forum

The mail system is still broken, which is why notifications dont work. EMail the most difficult part to set up and will get us quickly blacklisted if something goes wrong. This is why we would prefer email as a service, I am doing research on that.

Even more important is the topic of backups which also will require some research to find a good&modern solution.

From my perspective, the version of SMF is of little importance- this one works for now. It was chosen because my attempts to update to the most current one pathetically failed, so after some wasted tiem I gave up and tried the one in use now, which worked just fine.

These are three screenshots from KP's social media that make specific claims:

1: KP claims a specific ancestor received treaty payments.
2. KP claims their grandmother has "one Ojibwe parent from Sault Ste Marie and one Michif parent from Winnipeg."
3. KP claimed to be going through their great-aunt's genealogy files to pursue enrollment. Claims their great-uncle attended an "Oneida Indian boarding school" for a year.

These are very specific claims which KP should be able to prove.   

This article was in the Sheboygan Press on January 28, 1929. It's about Rose Catherine Keller La Plante being reunited with her birth mom and sister.

KP's ancestor Theotiste Beaudoin was born in Mackinaw City, Michigan. Little Chute Historical Society has the parents of Theotiste Beaudoin as being born in Quebec. This makes it highly unlikley there is any Sault Ste Marie Anishinaabe or Metis ancestry through this line.

PARENTS OF THEOTISTE BEAUDOIN
Francois Beaudoin
b. 06 Apr 1785, Repentigny, Québec, Canada
d. 01 Feb 1850, Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin
Marie Catherine Gauvreau
b. 25 Nov 1791, Québec, Canada   
d. 25 May 1864, Bay Settlement, Brown, Wisconsin

SOURCE: https://littlechutehistory.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I334470&tree=lc

Interestingly, this couple had a child in Wisconsin in 1834. The Wisconsin birth record lists the child as "white" despite the full sibling (Theotiste) going on to have children marked as "half breed" on the same record type.

Husband of Theotiste Beaudoin, John Baptiste La Plante, was born in Quebec.

This is the actual foster care article split into three parts. It appeared in the Green Bay Press Gazette on September 1, 1953.

This is KP's Tumblr post in which they claim an article was written praising their paternal grandmother's abusive foster parents taking in "sad little Indian kids." I'm going to try to attach the actual article (which doesn't say anything about race) in a separate post due to size.

Two screenshots of one of the social media post referenced in the previous post are attached. It's KP claiming to be descended from Mrs. Battise Plant.

Someone sent a message to me about Kai Pyle (KP) when the Kay LeClaire thread was getting significant attention. I didn't look at KP's genealogy and claims until later. In my opinion, there are reasons to question KP's claims. At the same time, I want to be clear that it's possible KP may have distant Native American (NA) ancestry. An anomaly in the documentation is that KP's 3x great-grandfather and his siblings are marked as half breeds on their Wisconsin birth records. I will provide one potential theory below. I want to be transparent up front about that information but emphasize there are big issues with KP's claims. KP has made very specific claims to being Sault Ste Marie and Metis on social media that don't appear to hold up to scrutiny.

KP deleted their social media accounts at some point in time. I will be attaching social media screen shots since the accounts are no longer available to link. I can't attach all the screenshots to one post but will be adding the screenshots as supporting evidence in additional posts over the next day or two.

Sault Ste Marie Anishinaabe Claims
I've attached two screenshots from a FB post in which KP claims to descend from Mrs. Battise Plant on the Sault Ste Marie 1907 Durant Roll. On KP's post, someone helpfully posts a page from a book compiled by Raymond C. Lantz. It is Horace B. Durant's field notes from the development of the 1907 Durant Roll. Durant was tasked with taking the 1870 Payment Roll and determining if the people listed were still alive and if they had descendants.

Durant determined that Mrs. Battise Plant had three children. KP claims in the post that Pauline Plant Lalone is their 2x great-aunt. The problem is that the other two children of Mrs. Battise Plant were reported by Pauline Plant Lalone to have died 23 years ago with no descendants. Pauline Plant Lalone wrote she had one child: Fred Payment. Fred Payment had three children: Sadie, Fred, and Cecil Payment. You don't need to see KP's genealogy to spot immediate issues with what KP is claiming.

It's interesting that KP's 3x great-grandfather, Alexander LaPlante, and his siblings are listed as half breeds on their Wisconsin birth records when records from the previous generation don't seem to corroborate this. Alexander LaPlante's oldest sibling was born in 1835 while he was born in 1848. The 1836 Chippewa and Ottawa Treaty coincided with the birth of Alexander's older sister. $150,000 was negotiated by the tribes for their half breed family members. It was widely covered in the news and fraudulent applications were received. I checked the 1836 Half Breed Payment Roll (those accepted) and didn't find any of KP's ancestors. Some people have tried to link a "Catherine Brodwine" as Alexander's mother...but none of the demographic information matches. I can't definitively explain the birth record anomaly, but the timing is interesting. I'd love it if someone can provide a more definitive answer. The Litte Chute Historical Society has more information about this line: https://littlechutehistory.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I423802&tree=lc

Kai Pyle's Genealogy
Below is KP's paternal ancestry. KP claims to be NA through paternal grandmother, Louise Ellen (LaPlante) Pyle. The paternal grandmother is living and remarried with a different surname which I won't be posting. Additional details can be provided to a NAFPS moderator if requested. IMPORTANT - I've found no evidence of KP's paternal grandmother, parents, or sibling claiming to be NA. There are individuals on Ancestry.com, likely distant relatives of KP, trying to prove NA ancestry from certain individuals. I didn't see anything in the Ancestry.com discussion around this issue that changes the overall problems with KP's specific claims. I do believe it's possible KP's family had family lore about being NA but how does that translate to KP making a very specific claim of descent from Mrs. Battise Plant?   

KP claims their family has spent time in foster care and orphanages. KP links this to boarding schools and speaks definitively about the children being taken from family due to being NA. In my opinion, this is only partially true. KP's paternal grandmother was in foster care. There is no indication of it being because of NA ancestry. In a social media post, KP claims an article about their paternal grandmother's foster parents praises the foster parents for "taking in sad little Indian foster kids." The actual article from 1953 was easy to find and it doesn't say anything about KP's paternal grandmother being a "sad little Indian foster kid." There's no mention of race at all.

KP's great-aunt and great-uncle were in an orphanage in Green Bay during the 1950 US Federal Census. They are listed as "White" on that census. In contrast, there were multiple children in the orphanage listed as being NA. Why wouldn't KP's great-aunt and great-uncle be listed as NA? KP claimed on social media that someone was in an Oneida boarding school. I didn't specifically look for this record but someone else could check it.

Great-Grandmother, Rose Catherine Keller, was reportedly in an orphanage and then in a foster/adoptive home. This is true but, once again, there's no evidence of it being because of NA ancestry. The reunion of Rose Catherine Keller, listed as Mrs. Clarence La Plante, with her birth mother and sister was covered by the Marshfield News Herald on January 29, 1929. The article contains no mention of the family being NA. Rose Catherine Keller lived with a German foster family and her biological parents appear to be of German ancestry, as well. Please note: Rose Catherine Keller is listed as Mrs. Clarence La Plante (nee Clara La Plante) in the article. "Clara" seems to be an inadvertent error.

Metis Ancestry
I don't usually go past 1800 on these family trees. I can't rule out that KP has an NA ancestor back in the late 1600's or early 1700's but even if KP were to have an ancestor back that far, does it really matter if so many of KP's specific claims aren't verifiable? It appears that all French-Canadian lines go back to Quebec and not Red River. How is KP Metis? Which lines go back to Red River? The Historical Society of Saint-Boniface could assist KP with documentation of their Metis heritage.

Disclaimer
All of this research was done using publicly available information. It is my opinion. There is a lack of clarity on some lines that could lead to a Native American ancestor. The purpose of this research was to verify KP's specific claims - not to find distant ancestry. Please forgive any typos - this was prepared quickly and I couldn't find spell check in the new forum format. 

PARENTS OF KAI PYLE
Robert D. Pyle
B: 1960's
D: Living
Jean M. Wichlacz
B: 1960's
D: Living

PARENTS OF ROBERT D. PYLE
James Jerome Pyle
B: 14 AUG 1939 - Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA
D: 20 FEB 1978 – Outagamie County, Wisconsin, USA
Louise Ellen LaPlante
B: 1940 • Wisconsin, USA
D: Living

PARENTS OF LOUISE ELLEN LAPLANTE
Clarence LaPlante
B: 23 MAR 1907 - Door County, Wisconsin, USA
D: 17 FEB 1944 - Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin, USA
Rose Catherine Keller (ALSO KNOWN BY FOSTER FAMILY NAME: ROZIK)
B: 3 FEB 1911 - Marinette County, Wisconsin, USA
D: 19 MAY 1981 - Brown County, Wisconsin, USA

PARENTS OF ROSE CATHERINE KELLER (RAISED BY FOSTER PARENTS - MARY AND ANDREW ROZIK)
Matthew J Keller (FAMILY IS LIKELY GERMAN)
B: 1870 – Wisconsin, USA
D: Unknown
Mary Louise Krause (PARENTS BORN IN GERMANY)
B: 20 DEC 1886 - Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
D: 15 SEP 1949 - Oconto County, Wisconsin, USA

PARENTS OF CLARENCE LAPLANTE
Frank A LaPlant
B: 15 FEB 1874 - Bay Settlement, Brown County, Wisconsin, USA
D: 4 DEC 1957 - Racine, Racine, Wisconsin, USA
Frances F Beard (PARENTS BORN IN GERMANY)
B: 21 JUL 1882 - Ellison Bay, Door, Wisconsin, USA
D: 15 FEB 1936 - Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin, USA

PARENTS OF FRANK A. LAPLANTE
Alexander LaPlante
B: ABT 1848 - Wisconsin, USA
D: 1883
Sophie Douville
B: 17 SEP 1854 - Manitowoc Rapids, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA
D: 5 SEP 1934 - Baileys Harbor, Door, Wisconsin, USA

PARENTS OF ALEXANDER LAPLANTE
John Baptiste LaPlante
B: 1792 - Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada
D: 1847 - Bay Settlement, Brown County, Wisconsin, USA
Theotiste Beaudoin
B: 17 NOV 1823 - Mackinac Island, Mackinac, Michigan, USA
D: 5 MAR 1869 - Brown County, Wisconsin, USA

Testing

I did work up their genealogy.

I'm just a random person on line. I suggest that folks ask Kai Pyle who their specific claimed Sault Ste Marie Ojibwe and Red River Métis people are. 

QuoteAs a Baawiting Nishnaabe, Métis, and Polish-American descendant, I first became interested in learning my heritage languages (mainly Polish, Michif, and Ojibwe) when I was 14 years old. One of my grandmothers grew up speaking Polish, while the other had been raised in foster care and didn't know any of her family's Michif, Ojibwe, and Métis French languages.

https://whereareyourkeys.org/wayk-summer-team-introduction-kai-pyle/

QuoteFinally, I want to acknowledge my family: my mother Jean and father Bob, my
sister Shannon—who I have more in common with as a fellow educator than I ever would
have imagined—and my grandmothers Louise and Diane, who remain ever-formidable
presences in my family

.

https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/26ddca47-fbf1-4b35-891c-3c2218644cc4/content

The above quote helped me verify what I was working on.

I do see Polish descent. That is on their maternal grandmother's side.

Their paternal grandmother's side is not at all as they describe.

I find this to be a depressing case. Kai Pyle is young. I don't know why they are claiming Sault Ste Marie Ojibwe and Red River Métis. I could be missing something, but I don't think so. And no one should have to work up their genealogy. They need to be able to easily talk about their claimed people and communities.