[jordansma]

my mother was adopted in 1950. there is as a lot of mystery surrounding her birth and adoption. the story that we know goes like this. my mother was 2 months premature and was not born in a hospital. her adopted mother was an LPN at the hospital that her and her birth mother was taken to. my mother's birth name was Patricia Rinnie and was later changed to Deborah Valentine. In a hand-written bio it was stated that her mother was black, Scotch-Irish and her father was a full-blood Chiriquah Apache who worked on a railroad. my mother's adoption was thru catholic charities and her records were sealed. One of the stipulations of her adoption was that she went to an Indian family. Our family (adopted) is black and Cherokee (we've traced it back thru archives as well as family oral history) but there is no one registered as far as we know, so we don't know how there Indian blood was ever proven legally. Also it was stated that she had to be raised Catholic. She has two older brothers and was born in Denver. We just want to know who we are we never felt like we ever fit into any group except with American Indians the problem is even though we look it we can't prove it we would like to just get information on who we are. I read something about Catholic Charities, in an attempt to "save" Indian children from life on the reservation a lot of Indian children were abducted from their families and placed with non-Indian families. I don't think this was the case with my mother but i want to know just incase. We're not looking for a reunion, it would hurt too many people in my family right now, just geneological and medical information. Any information would be useful.