Every Family Has a Story

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post in which I asked the question, who do you think you are?  That question had never been more relevant than in the weekend I wrote about last week about attending the Nansemond Indian Nation’s Pow Wow. https://www.facebook.com/NansemondIndianNation/

As I looked around and spoke with people there, it was quite apparent that we had all come from descendants of Bass-related persons. In other words, we were all cousins, no matter the color of our skin. And our skin tones varied from very dark, to those like me with blond hair and blue eyes. Yet, we can all trace our heritage back to one or two people from whom we descend. My family’s story is old and rich. And it is multi-ethnicity.

DNA Testing

As DNA tests become more prevalent and as more and more people are tested, I think it will become even more apparent just how closely related most of us in these United States are. This is even more so for those of us whose ancestors weren’t born here, but who came on one of the earlier ships. We are part of those people who came from all corners of the old world and left a Europe who refused to allow freedom of ideas and freedom of worship. My European family came very early in the 1600s. That was one side. Another side was already here.

They were the indigenous people of these lands. People who were forced from the lands they had called home for generation upon generation. That they managed, somehow, to find common ground (no pun intended) and to get along, even marry and have families with one another, to me is nothing short of a miracle.

Learn the Truth

We must read again the histories of how this country was formed. The story we’ve long held to be true, the one we were taught in school about Pocahontas, has now been proven to be false in great part. How many have bothered to learn the true story? And this is just one story. How many others must there be?

Just this past week, the descendants of The First Twenty and Odd, celebrated the four-hundredth commemoration of the arrival of their ancestors. How many even know who the First Twenty and Odd are? I must say, I didn’t know until about two to three years ago. Again, part of our history never taught in our schools. How many of us are descendants of those people? How would you know if you’ve not been told? https://www.facebook.com/1619GenealogyBank

Find Your Story

What is your family’s story? Were you a part of the indigenous peoples? Were your ancestors on one of the early ships to arrive on these shores? Did your first ancestors here come in the great wave of immigration in the 1800s? Unless you delve deeply into your lineage either via a DNA test, a paper trail, or both, you may never know of your rich heritage.

Not everyone will have come early. Some are recent arrivals, and they have a story. They have families and histories. We all came from somewhere.

Have you traced your ancestry? Did you find surprises? Share your story with us. 

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Nansemond Indian Nation Pow Wow 2019-A Family Affair

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Cousins, Bob, Debbie, Rod, and his beautiful daughter.

There are moments in life that leave us breathless and our hearts beating to a new rhythm. Memorable moments. Moments we file in the deepest recesses of our hearts and souls. I had many such moments this past weekend.

My family and I attended the thirty-first annual Pow Wow of the Nansemond Indian Nation in Suffolk, Virginia. I had no clue what to expect as I’d never attended a pow wow of any kind, anywhere. Indeed, it wasn’t until about three years ago that I knew this was part of my heritage.

This one was special to me because it was my first and was held on lands in possession of my Mama’s family for centuries. Since before my European ancestors arrived in the new world, the Nansemond were here. They hunted and fished on those lands. They made their homes and raised their families on those lands. The name Nansemond is Algonquian for fishing point.

Roots Run Deep and Hold Fast

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

This coming weekend promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. My husband and I are celebrating our anniversary. As part of our celebrations we will be traveling to Suffolk, Virginia, where we will be joined by our eldest son and his younger daughter. The four of us will be attending the 31^st annual Pow Wow of the Nansemond Indian Nation. The place of my roots.

Y’all know that I’m a big proponent of tracking one’s roots. Had I not been so diligent in seeking family members who knew more than I about my Mama’s family, this weekend would pass me by just as the previous thirty Pow Wows did. But thanks to newfound cousins who were and are far more knowledgeable about Mama’s family than we ever hoped to be, we will be in attendance this year.

Unknown Stories

Mama knew precious little about her roots. She, of course, knew her parents though her father passed away when Mama was only seven. All she knew of grandparents on his side of the family was that her grandmother was Ellen and her grandfather was Andrew.

When my sister and I began the search for our roots back in the 1990s, we were armed with a great deal of information on our Daddy’s side. But Mama’s was almost a blank slate. It was only after I joined Ancestry that I connected with cousins who’d been working on this side of the family for over forty years. Their research and documentation were solid considering all the work had been done the old-fashioned way, by combing through records in dusty old courthouses and pouring through library microfiche. The hours this must have taken still astounds me.

Proofs

One cousin volunteered to take a DNA test for us. It was at this point that we connected to unknown kin. We were able to piece together a family tree. The records we discovered—census records, marriage certificates, death certificates, land deeds, wills, etc. were tangible proof of the discoveries we made.

So, this coming weekend, we'll travel to Virginia to stand on the land that has been a part of the history of the Nansemond for centuries. A part of my Mama’s family. My family. My sons’ family. My granddaughters’ family.

There are no words for the overwhelming emotions as I write this. I will share photos and more reactions with you next week.

Roots.

Join our conversation. Have you searched for your roots? Share your discoveries with us.

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The photo above is of my Mama's family. Back row: Alberta Bass Cunningham, Rubye Bass Register, Beulah Bass Elmore, Bura Bass, 

Seated: Grandpa Wilburn Bass holding Mama, Dot Bass DuPree, Check Bass, behind in middle; Granny Ludie Smith Bass holding Doris Bass Blackburn, Mary Bass Derby.

Around Every Curve--Surprise

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

One of the many nice things about living in the mountains of western North Carolina, other than our beautiful mountains and all that comes with that, is there is always something new around the next curve. Our weekend outing was a testament to that.

As an author, I have accounts on many social media sites, and I have this weekly blog. To keep my posts fresh and to have relevant photographs to accompany these posts, I like to take my own photos. An advantage to this is, I don’t have to worry about copyrighted material. And, I add my own watermark so that my work cannot be used without my permission. Honestly, I don’t think I need worry about that as I am not a professional photographer by anyone’s stretch of the imagination. But, I do okay for someone who is clueless.

A Goodly Heritage

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I’ve spent a couple of days looking over family records—genealogy. It’s one of my favorite things to do. One thing I must keep in mind is how much time this takes away from my writing. It’s very easy to get sucked down those winding paths of one’s family. Mine is a doozy, believe me. I start out looking for one line and wind up on one totally unrelated, pun intended.

Years ago, close to twenty, I was in the genealogy library in Bartow, Florida. Bartow is a tiny little town not too far from the Tampa Bay area. One thing you must understand is how friendly the world of genealogists is. Most of us willingly share our work and actively help one another.

Called to be You

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Have you seriously thought about your purpose in life? What you've been called to be or do? A few years ago, author Rick Warren came out with his highly successful book, The Purpose Driven Life. My husband and I loved the study of this book so much, we went through the class twice. Yes, it’s that good. Though it was published in 2002, it is still very much relevant today . . . perhaps even more so.

When hubby and I moved into our home here in western North Carolina last year, a spider spun her web on one of the windows overlooking the fairway behind our home. She was so good at her job of being a spider. It was obvious that she took pride in her web-making abilities. Of course, her main purpose was to ensnare prey for her and her babies. I have to believe she knew she had created something that no other creature could—this beautifully crafted work of art. When it became broken, she quickly began work on the necessary repairs. I took many photographs of her and her web design. 

Anticipation

In the meantime, winter came. Miss Spider went into hibernation (let me believe this, please), and hubby and I went to Florida for a few months to escape the cold and snow. It was with great anticipation that we returned to our North Carolina home, this time permanently. I so looked forward to Miss Spider being there in the Spring with her latest web.

Alas, she never came.

Hubby and I don’t spend a lot of time in our sun room in the dark of night. You can’t see out. Everything is sleeping. But this week we’ve been without all those things run by our internet and television provider, so last night we decided to sit in the sun room with a good book in hand. I looked up and saw movement. There, right in front of me, was Miss Spider, weaving away. I was thrilled. Hubby grabbed a flashlight while I snapped as good a photo as was possible with my aging iPhone and in the darkness.

Now, I know this isn’t the first Miss Spider, the one to whom I had become so attached. My new Miss Spider was younger and much smaller than the first. But there she was, weaving a lovely piece of art. 

Same Species-Different Ways

Two spiders of the same species, both called to the same purpose—create a web, capture food for you and your wee ones. Each carried out this task in her own way. My first spider spun in the daytime. This new, younger spider spins in the dark of night.

Recently, I sent a friend’s book to another friend who has family in the city in which the book takes place. The friend who read the book wrote an amazing, lyrical review of the book. (Author friend you know who you are and you will be thrilled with this review.) The reader sent me her review prior to posting it and I was blown away by her use of words to describe the author’s work. I suggested to the reader that perhaps she had a hidden desire to enter the writing world.

Reader declined, saying while she knows she has a way with words, she has no desire to write. 

It’s all about purpose. She doesn’t feel called to write. This reader friend is a phenomenal decorator and seamstress. And she quotes more lines from songs and movies than anyone I know. She takes great care of her parents who are in their mid to late eighties, but still living alone and going strong. With her husband, they travel to the city in which the book takes place to see their son perform (he's a gifted jazz drummer) and to visit with their daughter-in-love and granddaughter. In other words, she knows her purpose and she is fulfilling all those things. She’s living the life she is supposed to be living.

Called to Our Unique Purpose

Writing may be what I feel called to do, but my friend, though she is gifted with the ability to write beautiful sentences, doesn’t feel that call, that purpose for her life.

The Author of our lives calls each of us to a specific purpose. Have you found yours? If not, listen for that Still Small Voice. It may come in a remark from a friend, from a song lyric speaking directly to you, from a page in a book, from a certain scripture verse that speaks to your heart. Each of us is unique—we fulfill a specific purpose. I have many writer friends, but not one of us has written the same book.

I’ll ask again—Have you found your purpose? Share your calling with us.

Romans 8:28.

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