The Berry Pickers - Amanda Peters

 A 4 year-old girl disappears on the edge of blueberry fields where her parents are First Nation pickers from Canada.  The book tells the story of a grown woman who questions her origins and the brother of the missing girl whose life is destroyed with guilt.

A very sad read.  Some beautifully worded phrases and overall a story of forgiveness, family and life struggles.

Published: 2023  Read: November 2025 Genre: Fiction 

There There - Tommy Orange

 When I first saw the title of this book I took it to be a phrase of comfort, as in "There, there, everything will be alright."  Instead, it refers to the classic quote about Oakland California where it says "There's no there, there" referring to what the place had been in the speaker's past is no longer found in the place.

The book is the story of a multi-generations of Native Americans trying to survive in a world where they feel they do not belong.  The author uses first, second and third person voice and skips from one character and timeframe in a jarring fashion.  I couldn't finish it, too depressing and disjointed.

Published: 2018  Read:  May 2023 Genre: Fiction

Origin - Jennifer Raff

 Sub-title: A Genetic History of the Americas

I've been reading recently published books addressing genetics and DNA.  This one came to my attention in my social media feed and I had to wait several weeks for it to be available at the library.

The author is an anthropologist and geneticist with the University of Kansas.  While she is letting the research on ancient remains tell the story of how the Americas may have bee populated, her larger message is that the scientific community and the general public needs to seek out and respect the Native Americans who are the modern descendants of the peoples they study and research and that we should be collaborating with them, as she does.

I enjoyed the summary of the science to date, the history of the finds and analysis of the on-site anthropological materials as well as the laboratory work done to analyze DNA.  A good read that brought into perspective the studies being done to trace our human family.  I will be interested to see what fellow genealogists who have researched Native American DNA think of her book.

Quotes:

p. 150 - She provides an explanation of extensive lab procedures for cleanliness and to avoid contamination as "...a contract between ourselves [scientists] and the Indigenous peoples who have given us permission to conduct this work" that demonstrates the ethics of anthropology and genetics.

p. 198 - She describes the parallels between the evolution of dogs as contributing to being "...able to get insights into human story from an unexpected source: the genomes of dogs."

p. 256 - "...the Common Rule, which underlies ethical oversight of research on humans (governed by Institutional Review Boards or IRBs) does not apply to ancient humans.  NAGPRA, the law the governs human remains and artifacts associated with descendant tribe, does not apply to the remains of ancient people found on private property."

p. 261 - "For Indigenous peoples this [Native American heritage] is not a minor or abstract issue; giving legitimacy to the notion that one can claim Native identify via a DNA test or family legend without any connection to present-day tribes is an implicit threat to tribal sovereignty....Because of widespread interest ...commercial ancestry testing services are intensely focused on obtaining Native American DNA from tribal members...met with a fair amount of resistance.  The marketing of ancestor test as "telling you who you are" is not accurate.  It boils down to this - what makes a person Indigenous is not a subject on which I- or any other non-Native geneticist- can speak with any authority or knowledge."

Published: 2022  Read: May 2022  Genre: Science

DNA for Native American Genealogy - Roberta Estes

 This book is a much needed volume addressing the use of DNA analysis along with genealogical research to identify and verify native american heritage.  It's divided into 6 parts:

Part 1: Seeking Native Ancestors

Part 2: Ethnicity and Population Genetics - a good explanation of how this is done

Part 3: DNA Testing

Part 4: MtDNA

Part 5: Y-DNA ancient and modern

Part 6: Roadmap and checklist

There are many tables accompanying each topic, making it an excellent reference when pursuing DNA for Native American research.  Highly recommended.

Published: 2021  Read: April 2022 Genre: Genealogy

The Trials of Thomas Morton - Peter C Mancall

Subtitle: An Anglican lawyer, his puritan foes, and the battle for a New England

I picked this off the non-fiction shelf at the library because it was about the history of America in the mid-1600s.  My passion for genealogy told me it wouldn't hurt to learn more about that time period.

It's a scholarly written book, with pages of references documenting the well structured tale of a real person, Thomas Morton, who attempted to launch an alternative approach in the settling of New England.  An adherent to the Church of England, who the Puritans and Pilgrims were escaping, he advocated cooperating with the indigenous people and sharing their homeland.  He lost, obviously.

I found it fascinating that Morton had written a book about his mistreatment at the hands of the Puritans of Massachusetts.  The book, published in the mid-1600s, was referenced by President John Adams when writing of the early history of America more than a century later.  A copy of the book stayed in the Adams family and kept the story of Thomas Morton alive as a different perspective on the settling of New England.  A quirky read and great history lesson.

P. 31.  [quoting from Morton's book when he is describing the Algonquian natives] Morton claimed that there were "wake withes" among them, called Powahs," who had "some correspondency" with the devil..."

This quote caught my eye because of the story my uncle told of my great-grandmother "making Pow-wow", that is, a ritual healing practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch for decades.  I wonder if it actually originated with the native culture?

Published:  2019  Read: February 2020 Genre: Historical biography