I too chased her ancestry back to about the early-mid 1800's (which sounds like you went back even further) paying a little more attention to her mother's Canadian side since there is the claim of Metis. I got back to a Teresa/Thereza Hough who would be Leah's great-great-grandmother born in the late 1860's and the only item of interest I found was on the 1891 Canadian census, Teresa's family lived near some Anishinaabe people. The family is listed as Catholic while the Indigenous folks are listed as "Pagan" but they are not in the same household or appear to live immediately next to each other. I don't think this helps much but any art board should be demanding proof of her lineage. I tried to pick out which aunt she is referring to but none of the aunts make sense with what she is claiming, her mother's sister is still alive from what I can tell but she refers to the aunt who taught her beadwork as having passed.
Thank you for looking at Leah Yellowbird’s genealogy, ojib22. It's nice to have another set of eyes on it. I traced the paternal and maternal sides of Leah's family. 3 of 4 grandparents have ancestors that passed through Canada (paternal grandmother, paternal grandfather, and maternal grandmother). I focused on researching those lines in an attempt to corroborate Leah's claims.
PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: The Canadian lines of both paternal grandparents lead directly to Quebec. In my opinion, based on publicly available information, there isn't any Native American ancestry matching Leah’s claims on this side of her family. Could there be a line that traces back to someone recorded as "Indian Woman" in the late-1600's or early to mid-1700's? Possibly. That wouldn’t be consistent with Leah’s claims though.
MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER: As ojib22 mentioned, the maternal grandmother’s family did live near an Anishinaabe community in Ontario. In my opinion, based on publicly available records, Leah’s maternal grandmother's family isn't Anishinaabe though. Leah’s maternal ancestors came to Ontario
from Quebec which can be confirmed through census, birth, and baptism records. The family was Quebecois/French Canadian...not Anishinaabe, Algonquin, and/or Metis.
RESEARCH NOTE: I spent additional time researching Leah’s 3x great-grandfather, Joseph Alexis Gagnon, due to his recorded occupation on one census. Joseph Alexis Gagnon’s occupation was documented as “moccasin maker” on the 1891 Census of Canada. Despite his occupation, the fields I bolded on the census below indicate Joseph Alexis Gagnon was French Canadian (White).
1891 Census of CanadaName...............................Alexis Gagnon
Gender.............................Male
Marital Status...................Married
Age.................................50
Birth Year.........................abt 1841
Birth Place.....................QuebecResidence Date.................1891
Residence Place................Quyon Village, Pontiac, Quebec, Canada
Religion............................Roman Catholic
Occupation.......................Moccassin Keeper*
Can Read..........................Y
Can Write..........................Y
French Canadian.............YesSpouse............................Susan Gagnon
Father's Birth Place........QuebecMother's Birth Place........Quebec*Transcription Error: I believe the record was transcribed incorrectly and actually reads “moccasin maker”.I searched the 1891 Census of Canada for the keyword “moccasin” to compare demographics of anyone with a moccasin-related occupation. 8 people (not including Joseph Alexis Gagnon) came up in search results as having the word "moccasin" in their occupation title. 4 of 8 were clearly non-Native American as their parents were born in Europe. 3 of 8 had parents born in Ontario and, upon further research, listed their racial or tribal origins as Scottish, English, and Dutch. 1 of the 8 was denoted as being French Canadian. Clearly, having a moccasin-related occupation on the 1891 Census of Canada isn't indicative of Native American ancestry.
Susanna Sinclair - Moccasin Maker
Birthplace of Mother: Scotland
Birthplace of Father: Scotland
Jane McClure – Moccasin Maker
Birthplace of Mother: Ireland
Birthplace of Father: Ireland
Mina Black – Moccasin*
Birthplace of Mother: England
Birthplace of Father: England
*Occupation recorded only as “moccasin” on original census document
John Agnew – Moccasin Silker
Birthplace of Mother: Scotland
Birthplace of Father: Ireland
Maud Mason – Moccasin Tucke (sic)
Birthplace of Mother: Ontario
Birthplace of Father: Ontario
Notes: On the 1921 Census of Canada, Maud’s racial or tribal origin is documented as “Dutch”
Warner Nicklin – Moccasin Finisher
Birthplace of Mother: Ontario
Birthplace of Father: Ontario
Notes: On the 1921 Census of Canada, Warner’s racial or tribal origin is documented as “English”
Elizabeth Werden – Moccasin Silker
Birthplace of Mother: Ontario
Birthplace of Father: Ontario
Notes: On the 1931 Census of Canada, Elizabeth’s racial origin is documented as “Scottish”
Clara Levins – Moccasin Maker
Birthplace of Mother: Not recorded
Birthplace of Father: Not recorded
French Canadian: Yes
I have no idea if Leah is aware of this census or if it's had any bearing on her claims. If there was any question about Leah Hanson AKA Leah Yellowbird being Native American due to her 3x great-grandfather being listed as a moccasin maker on the 1891 Census of Canada, hopefully this resolves it though.
Leah should be able to provide specifics about her claimed Native American ancestry. Who are her people? What Anishinaabe community is her family from? What does she mean by “Algonquin-Metis”? It’s a huge red flag that she’s never specified a community or tribe.
