Peyton Mayeski

UWRT 1104
2/14/2017
WP #4

My family is what you call the crazy and loud neighbors. My Pops (grandfather) is a very

intriguing man. He is my mothers father. He is tough on the outside, but very soft on the inside.

He is Native American and Irish. Our tribe is Chinook. I love hearing stories about how much he

loved to hear his grandmas stories about her life on the reservation and her family. He would

always say, She would always tell us stories while she brushed her long, thick, black hair. I

always love to hear his stories about when he was younger. He has lived with us in Georgia and

moved with us to North Carolina, which is where one of his sisters, my Aunt Niecie, who lives in

Charlotte.

He does not always tell us about his past, especially from his Irish side. Im unsure about

a big part of my ancestors and history. He has a lot of Irish in him, but his facial structure is very

Native American. He has blue eyes and blonde hair. If you look at all his siblings, two sisters and

a brother, you can tell him and my Aunt Niecie are related. The other two, Nanette and Kenny

look identical with their dark skin, brown eyes and high cheek bones. Every time he talks about

his grandmother he cries and says, She was such an amazing and generous woman. I would

have loved to know her and know more about her, but since he cries every time we never finish

talking about her. I love to talk to him about our family and past, but I do not always get very far,

since we have that loud family that love to interrupt.

My Uncle has done a lot of research about our Native American history. My Pops has

always told me that we are somehow related to Chief Joseph, but my Uncle Joseph tells me

otherwise. My Uncle said, Chief Joseph took a lot of tribes under his wing because they were

trying to escape the white men. Since the men in my family are very thick headed and stubborn
Peyton Mayeski
UWRT 1104
2/14/2017
they tend to believe they are right over the other. My Pops is sticking to his story and one of our

relatives borrowed my Pops last item he had of his Native American ancestry and has yet to give

it back. This really upset him because my distant cousin happened to misplace and he thinks his

x-wife might have taken it. It is very upsetting because that is part of our family and she was

married into our family. I really hope she did not get rid of it because it is priceless and a piece of

us. I hope my Pops continues to fight for it and get it back so I can see a piece of our history and

be able to feel the past. During our genealogy project I hope to discover more about my Native

American and Irish history. Mainly the Irish because I am clueless when it comes to that part of

my life and how I got to be who I am because of them coming to America.