Unnamed: Because They Were Indian

Unnamed: Because They Were Indian is my devotional offering to the ancestors whose names were erased by ink but remembered by spirit. Through census records, oral history, and ancestral intuition, I trace the lives of Indigenous family members who were misclassified, unnamed, or reduced to racial codes. They were Cherokee, Lumbee, Monacan—women who stirred cedar smoke into prayer, men who carried tribal memory in their hands, children who braided stories into silence. This book is not just a record—it's a ritual. A reclamation. A resurrection. I name the ones who were listed only as "mulatto," "free person of color," or left blank. I restore their dignity through symbolic naming, spiritual reflection, and historical context. From the Indian Removal Act to tribal enrollment debates, I explore how federal systems obscured Indigenous identity and how ancestral truth still rises. Featuring a timeline of erasure and resistance, a glossary of racial classifications, and research tips for genealogical seekers, Unnamed: Because They Were Indian is both a legacy memoir and a guide for those who carry unnamed ancestors in their bones. Every page is a drumbeat. Every silence is now a song. This book is their name now. This breath is their blessing. This story is their return.