Goen Childress Ancestress
Known in colonial records only by her first name, Elizabeth, and description "Mulatto", she likely died before her husband made his 1803 will, proved 1805, as she is not mentioned. However, she also may have been excluded from his will because she was an Indigenous non-Christian woman. In this day and age, the social construct imposed by Euros based on "race", that is, melanin content of skin plus origin, is considered offensive by many. As an Indigenous non-Christian person, Elizabeth wouldn't have followed patriarchal Euro custom in naming, she would have been born to and of her people who are Monacan (Eastern Sioux).
Please note in modern common usage the definition of the word "Mulatto" does not agree with the legal definition of Elizabeth's day and age:
"And for clearing all manner of doubts which hereafter may happen to arise upon the construction of this act, or any other act, who shall be accounted a mulatto, Be it enacted and declared, and it is hereby enacted and declared, That the child of an Indian and the child, grand child, or great grand child, of a negro shall be deemed, accounted, held and taken to be a mulatto."
-- General Assembly of Virginia, 4th Anne Ch. IV (October 1705)
- Indigenous Nation - Monacan (Eastern Sioux)
We know that Elizabeth was Indigenous "Indian" and not African-American or European after a decision in 1847 in the Kentucky circuit court of a descendant John H Going that his mother (Elizabeth's daughter) was an "Indian".
"Monacan (possibly from an Algonquian word signifying a digging stick or spade) . A tribe and confederacy of Virginia in the 17th century. The confederacy occupied the upper waters of James r. above the falls at Richmond. Their chief village was Rasawek. They were allies of the Manahoac and enemies of the Powhatan, and spoke a language different from that of either. They were finally incorporated with other remnants under the names of Saponi and Tutelo (q. v. ). The confederacy was composed of the Monacan proper, Massinacac, Mohemencho, Monahassano, Monasiccapano, and some other tribes.
"The Monacan proper had a chief settlement, known to the whites as Monacantown, on James r. about 20 m. above the falls at Richmond. In 1669 they still had 30 bowmen, or perhaps about 100 souls. Thirty years later, the Indian population having died out or emigrated, a Huguenot colony took possession of the site.
Consult Mooney, Siouan Tribes of the East, Bull. B. A. E., 1894. ( j. m. ) "
Source:
Handbook of American Indian Tribes North of Mexico Vol 1 p 930-1, by F W Hodge 1907-10
In 1753 the Cayuga Nation (Gayogohono) of the Iroquois Five Nations (Wisk Niwakonwontsiake) adopted the Monacan, who by then had coalesced with other Eastern Sioux remnants, Saponi and Tutelo; however not all removed to the north, many remnants migrated west to the Ohio Valley, and to the south, and joined other nations.
"Monacan (possibly from an Algonquian word signifying a digging stick or spade) . A tribe and confederacy of Virginia in the 17th century. The confederacy occupied the upper waters of James r. above the falls at Richmond. Their chief village was Rasawek. They were allies of the Manahoac and enemies of the Powhatan, and spoke a language different from that of either. They were finally incorporated with other remnants under the names of Saponi and Tutelo (q. v. ). The confederacy was composed of the Monacan proper, Massinacac, Mohemencho, Monahassano, Monasiccapano, and some other tribes.
"The Monacan proper had a chief settlement, known to the whites as Monacantown, on James r. about 20 m. above the falls at Richmond. In 1669 they still had 30 bowmen, or perhaps about 100 souls. Thirty years later, the Indian population having died out or emigrated, a Huguenot colony took possession of the site.
Consult Mooney, Siouan Tribes of the East, Bull. B. A. E., 1894. ( j. m. ) "
Source:
Handbook of American Indian Tribes North of Mexico Vol 1 p 930-1, by F W Hodge 1907-10
In 1753 the Cayuga Nation (Gayogohono) of the Iroquois Five Nations (Wisk Niwakonwontsiake) adopted the Monacan, who by then had coalesced with other Eastern Sioux remnants, Saponi and Tutelo; however not all removed to the north, many remnants migrated west to the Ohio Valley, and to the south, and joined other nations.
By tradition, one inherits one's nation and clan from one's mothers, not fathers: "you are what your mother is". That is tradition, and it is an inherent birthright, not given by any government in the "world of men".
-- 27 Jul 2019, L A Childress
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