Joseph Barrage Wanjui, son of Wanjui and Elizabeth Wanjirũ, was born in 1937 in Cura, Kenya. He married Elizabeth Mũkami.

Chief Zakiya Hahta Nashoba tells a story of how she conquered paper genocide and discovered her Native American roots.

“Gracefully written . . . thoroughly researched . . . America is a banquet prepared by the Indians—who were forgotten when it was time to give thanks at the table.”—St. Paul Pioneer-Express “Well written, imagery-ridden . . . A tale of what was, what became, and what is today regarding the Indian relation to the European civilization that ‘grafted’ itself onto this ‘ancient stem’”—Minneapolis Star Tribune In Indian Givers, anthropologist Jack Weatherford revealed how the cultural, social, and political practices of the American Indians transformed the world. In Native Roots, Weatherford focuses on the vital role Indian civilizations have played in the making of the United States. Conventional American history holds that the white settlers of the New World re-created the societies they had known in England, France, and Spain. But, as Weatherford so brilliantly shows, Europeans in fact grafted their civilizations onto the deep and nourishing roots of Native American customs and beliefs. Beneath the glass-and-steel skyscrapers of contemporary Manhattan lies an Indian fur-trading post. Behind the tactics of modern guerrilla warfare are the lightning-fast maneuvers of the Plains Indians. Our place names, our farming and hunting techniques, our crafts, and the very blood that flows in our veins—all derive from American Indians in ways that we consistently fail to see. In Weatherford’s words, “Without understanding Native Americans, we will never know who we are today in America.”

The environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl which turned days to nights in the far of cities of New York and Washington D.C. for Oklahoma tore families apart sending survivors to all corners of the country. For many people now trying to find their lost relatives and ancestors from Oklahoma the task is often more difficult than they expected. This is a compilation of my research of the Native American part of my families roots. Not only do I present my findings in their historical context but also where and how I looked to find them. I detailed the members of my family from the early 1700s to the present. A history you dont see in the school books that has fascinated me from little on. For those trying to find more about their Native American roots or those simply interested in American History from the Native American point of view this book is invaluable.

In 1907, the Indian Territory became the State of Oklahoma. To qualify for the payments and land allotments set aside for the Five Civilized Tribes, the former slaves of these nations had to apply for official enrollment, thus producing testimonies of imm