My Other Mystic Lake - Mde Wakan

And so now the other unexpected Lake story.

Likely inspired by Kathleen diligently studying, and successfully finding out about her family history, I decided to try out Ancestry.com. Not quite the detective Kathleen is, I decided to venture into what looked like what I hoped would be an easy path to some ancestral history.

And, I was most curious about my dad's dad. I had been told all my life he was half Iroquois, and half French. No reason to doubt it. Well, definitely surprised. .  . if I have Iroquois ancestors it is not obviously, and not looking likely for the closest family.

So my identity shifts. . . my paternal grandfathers mother, is listed on the Indian Census as mixed blood Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota). Thank you Wikipedia - They are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota (Sioux), Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota, which in the Dakota language was called mde wakan (mystic/spiritual lake). My father is indeed from Minnesota.




My grandfather, (Robert David) Bert and several generations are buried in Grey Cloud Island Cemetery, Grey Cloud Island, MN

Proving the possible flaws in census/record taking I saw a relative born in 1704 with date of death listed in 2004, some those military enlistment whose date of birth was later than the date of enlistment.
Uncles who are  Mdewakanton Sioux on the Indian Census listed (my favorite) as Hindu/Indian on the Federal Census.

And, also, some paternal ancestors are listed on the census as Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

With little effort, and the help of all the people who have already worked on my family tree, it seems I can follow one the French Canadian sides back to 8th great grandparents, Hilaire & Mary Antoinette who were born in France and with the first regular French military regiments to Quebec in the 1600's.

Mdewakanton Sioux/Chippewa/French/Canadian/German/Lithuanian so far . . . Metis