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Correcting an Inaccurate Blog

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Feathers

4 Major Premises Of  The Blog

  1. The blogger asserts that the DNA is conclusive that the descendant of Charity Adkins shows a haplogroup that is inconsistent with Native American heritage.
     

  2. The blogger assumes that Cornstalk hated whites, was brutal against them, therefore, there is no way that his daughter would have consumated a relationship with one.
     

  3. She assumes that Parker and Bluesky were not likely to have had a relationship because of impossible geographical distances between them.
     

  4. As discussed on another page of my site, this blogger is fixated on the idea that the Shawnee were brutal savages.

I will try to address those four premises here on this page, although much of my response exists on the other pages of this website, so be sure to check those out.

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DNA - An Imperfect Science

First and foremost, in regard to the claim that DNA has been conducted on a descendant of Charity Adkins, a woman by the name of Audalene, the blogger asserts whole-hardheartedly that the results show only one thing:  that Charity cannot be Native American, because her Haplogroup is not one of those that are traditionally considered to be those of Native Americans.  While it is true that the results have shown that individual to be Haplogroup H, which hints at European ancestry, there are a couple of things that I want you to consider.  First, that most standard DNA companies are limited in the amount of the genome that they actually test.  According to Sequencing.com (https://sequencing.com/knowledge-center/faqs/does-23andme-ancestrycom-myheritage-test-my-entire-genome),

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"The type of testing technology used by 23andMe, Ancestry.com and similar companies test less than 0.1% of your genome.  Their tests, which are called genotyping microarray tests, do not sequence your genes and do not test your whole genome".

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That means that a whopping 99% of the genome being tested when you send in your swab/saliva kit is STILL out there, floating around in the tube you sent it back in, but remains undetermined as to what information your DNA might show if it could be sequenced. 

 

99% untested genome.  Think about that for a minute.

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It would be wonderful if the test results for Charity's descendant showed us everything that it possibly could, but the technology used by almost every testing company just isn't there yet to give us complete results. 

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With THAT said, Ms. Dorene Soiret, an avid and expert Adkins historian, also had tested the same subject. 

 

As expected, Audalene's DNA results from Dorene's test, shows an "H" haplogroup. And... she also shows Native American DNA. 

 

Dorene Soiret has posted every detail of the results on her own blog, which is available for anyone to see:

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https://thecaseforblueskyandparkeradkins.com/?fbclid=IwAR1_zwugRhSNISd2JIMQe-jgqJlP3o4K2vSyV4603g_0Ps8rv-mpG2jXcew

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It is crucial to point out here, that Audalene's DNA has been part of a specialty Native American Mitochondrial DNA study, and it has been determined to be Native American in that study as well.

(Dorene Soiret, personal correspondence, 8/26/2021)

 

In stark contrast, when we asked for the 'blogger' to show the same details, she has balked at the request and only gives us her interpretation of the results, NOT the actual details. 

 

My guess to why that might be is that she is not up-to-speed with molecular science enough to answer any questions that other's might have.  On the other hand, and to her credit, Ms. Soiret has been open and inviting of questions.  I'm not going to rehash the details of Audalene's results, as that would make my page redundant, but I urge you to check it out on Dorene's website, link shown above.  

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DNA - INCOMPLETE Comparative Analysis

The other problem with modern DNA testing for Native American heritage, is that most tribes have been reluctant to share DNA in order to create a dataset that is exhaustive.  There is probably a fear of an upheaval in sovereignty and governance by the tribes. 

 

I can't say I blame them when you think about how Indigenous People's history has been and (apparently) IS STILL being distorted by Europeans who seek to control the narrative, much like this blogger is doing even now

 

So basically, DNA testing companies usually do not have sufficient Native American data to compare YOUR DNA to.  And when there is Native American DNA material by which to compare a customer's results, more data exists for western, Central and South American tribes than exists for woodlands/Eastern tribes. 

 

There is one company that I'm aware of that has such a dataset, and offers reputable results.  In my case, I've tested with FtDNA and this company, DNA Consultants.  The blogger, someone with NO expertise in the field of molecular genetics, has been a staunch critic of DNA Consultants. 

 

But I digress - FtDNA points out that I have Native ancestry, but can't tell me the tribe and doesn't give me amounts.  When I tested with DNA Consultants, it found substantial amounts of Native ancestry, and told me which tribes are found in my DNA. 

 

Of course, larger datasets would be more preferential, so the field has alot of growing to do as its still far from complete, but there are stark differences in DNA testing companies and some are definitely headed in the right direction by filling a void that exists in the field.  THAT is the approach that DNA Consultants seems to be taking. 

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The bottom line is that it is possible for Charity's descendant to have a European haplogroup AND STILL have Native American molecular material.

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In discussing the earliest research on Native American DNA, it has been stated that Native American can only belong to four distinct haplogroups.  The PROBLEM with that supposition is that there were a certain amount of molecular material that were NOT part of those haplogroups, and that fact was largely ignored, and IS STILL IGNORED by the artist blogger....    Experts, however, approach this problem differently.  It's believed by Kemp and Schurr that:  

 

"between 2.6 percent and 6 percent... of the samples they analyzed belonged to unknown haplogroups, which they attributed to non-Native American admixture.  In retrospect, Torroni and colleagues (1993) should have emphasized, as did Schurr and colleagues (1990:613) a few years prior in their abstract, that 'Amerind mtDNAs derived from AT LEAST four primary lineages". 

Ancient and Modern Genetic Variaion in the Americas", https://www.igb.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/Kemp%20and%20Schurr%202010.pdf

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Key words in the above quote:  At least.  Did you miss that part, Ms. Blogger????  This means that it's possible and maybe even PROBABLE that other haplogroups can be found in mtDNA results that do not fit into the 'four haplogroup theory', and STILL be considered Native American.  

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Please do not listen to armchair genealogists whose academic background is limited to putting paint on canvas to convince you that she understands the field of molecular genetics.  She must be a wonderful paint artist, because she sure has painted her image as an expert and actually has people believing her!

 

I highly encourage ANYONE reading this page to look at peer-reviewed material in esteemed academic journals and printed material, and base your opinion on those results rather than a misleading blogger's page - even over anything that ***I*** have to say.

 

That is the very reason that I spend so much energy on academic material on MY website.  I want you to understand that although I give MY opinion on this page, certainly, I want to back up what I'm telling you by including expert sources.

 

But back to such adadmic material on the subject:  recent findings in Siberia have shown the fact that haplogroup research reveals Native American DNA to be complicated but the above to be true. 

 

In an article in Nature discussing the finding of a boy's skeleton from ancient Siberia, there is a discussion on Native Americans actually bearing European ancestry due to there being sequential movement of humans throughout Asia and the Americas. 

 

A paleogeneticist states in the article:

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"At some point in the past, a branch of east Asians and a branch of western Eurasians met each other and had sex alot."

(Yong, E. Americas’ natives have European roots. Nature (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2013.14213

Published20 November 2013, Ihttps://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2013.14213_)

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The same findings are discussed in Science magazine as well where it is quoted:

 

"'I'm still processing that Native Americans are one-third European' says geneticist Connie Mulligan of the University of Florida in Gainesville. 'It's jaw-dropping.'"

 

And coincidentally, one third or more of the gene pool in Europe is Haplogroup H or a subclade. 

(U Roostalu, I Kutuev, E-L Loogväli, E Metspalu, K Tambets, M Reidla, EK Khusnutdinova, E Usanga, T Kivisild, R Villems, Origin and Expansion of Haplogroup H, the Dominant Human Mitochondrial DNA Lineage in West Eurasia: The Near Eastern and Caucasian Perspective, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 24, Issue 2, February 2007, Pages 436–448, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msl173_)

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The Nature article states further:

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"Our group is very excited to see this', says Alexander Kim, who works with geneticist David Reich at Harvard Medical School in Boston and represented the group at the meeting.  Reich's team found that populations they identified as Native American ancestors in Asia apparently also contributed genes to populations in Northern Europe".

(Ancient DNA Links Native Americans With EuropeMichael BalterDOI: 10.1126/science.342.6157.409 (6157), 409-410.342Scienc)

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The way that Ms. Soiret explains it, is that haplogroup H is:

 

"all over the ancient world.  It ended up in Europe... but it didn't start there.  It's in ancient Siberia and also ancient China"

(personal communication dated 8/26/2021). 

 

Clearly, both the archaeology and the genetic evidence, as discussed above in the Nature and Science articles backs up Dorene Soiret's comments about Haplogroup H. 

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As you read the material on the other blog, you will notice that the author goes back and forth erratically between autosomnal and mitochondrial DNA.  The author claims the matches from England and Ireland to be 'exact', but she is wrong.  She is wrong with her autosomnal discussion and she is wrong with her mitochondrial discussion.    Again, I'll redirect you to Ms. Soiret's blog for an in-depth analysis of WHY this other blogger is wrong: 

 

https://thecaseforblueskyandparkeradkins.com/?fbclid=IwAR1_zwugRhSNISd2JIMQe-jgqJlP3o4K2vSyV4603g_0Ps8rv-mpG2jXcew

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As I stated above - science backs up Ms. Soiret's version.  "Art History 101" backs up the other blogger, and I might add - if not art history, then fantasy writers are trying to do the same.  To NOT fall into these arm chair genealogists who's backgrounds are NOT in this field ---- I highly enourage you to again, look at up-to-date, peer-reviewed material on the subject.

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I highly suggest you gather all of the information that you possibly can.  Consider the source of information being given.  Don't simply listen to someone's interpretation of a hard science such as DNA, when their expertise lies mostly in oils and acrylics.

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A lot of "Fluff" and Historical Inaccuracies on That Blog:

A quick glance of her blog reveals a lot of fluff and bluff.  She spends A LOT of time talking about things that have nothing to do with Parker or Bluesky, which is SUPPOSED to be the purpose of her page.  I suppose that she throws in all of the fluff to make it seem like she has a valid argument.  It's a common tactic amongst bullshitters that the more you wrap your point up in unnecessary brew-ha-ha, the more believable someone will appear.  She employs THAT same tactic if you ask me!  

 

If you strip ALL Of the fluff away, almost nothing remains of her point.  Sure, she throws in a TON of accurate historical information and stories that anyone with a computer and google can find on their own, but nothing that has to do with the price of tea in China, as the saying goes.  

 

Within those few details that are relative to the discussion, are some historical inaccuracies

 

She tells us that Parker was in the military.  Most researchers feel that there is no evidence of Parker ever being mustered into service.

 

She also tells us:

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“Shortly after Parker and Mary Adkins were married in 1754 in Halifax County, a series of forts were built to protect against Indian attacks...  then she tells us that "Captain Thomas Calloway commanded a fort on Pigg River”. 

 

The first error in the above statement is that the forts that she refers to were actually started earlier than that, and that the Pigg River fort was actually commanded by Thomas’ brother, William.  

 

The Fort that Captain Thomas Calloway commanded was actually the Hickey Fort (also called Fort Trial), on the SMITH River, NOT the Pigg River.  It was on the land of John Hickey (also Hickii).  This person and his land/road are described in the Moravian Diary of 1753.  

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See:  https://www.victorianvilla.com/sims-mitchell/local/clement/mc/abb/06.htm, and https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/vasowest.html#henry. 

 

She then goes on to state that Parker and his wife would have known about the fort and possibly visited it.  She didn’t even get the location of the fort correct, and the one she referred to by Calloway was quite a distance away from where she thinks she is placing it geographically, so how can we believe anything else she has to say?   

 

Even IF probable, what Parker knew, or where he went, is still just speculation on her part, not fact.  You'll find a bunch of speculation that she is trying to pass off as 'fact' on the page so be careful as you read through it that you separate the speculation from the facts.  The blogger is likely hoping that you won't differentiate between the two.

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Another example of her 'fluffy' details is when she states:

 

“The Pigg River flows past Rocky Mount, the county seat of Franklin County, so I looked up the distance between these two cities. It is between 339 and 353 miles from Rocky Mount to Circleville, depending on the route taken and using today’s modern highway system.” 

 

This is quite laughable.  What does today’s modern highway system, and mileage across the land have to do with anything when the means of travel for most Shawnee were waterways and by foot?  The Shawnee were experts at covering large swaths of geography for hunting, settlement, and due to conflicts with other tribes and colonists.   

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Her Attack on Cornstalk

She goes on to talk about Cornstalk, Bluesky’s presumed father.  She goes on and on.  I have no problem with most of the facts she shares about his life.  It’s all pretty well-known documented history.  She’s not sharing anything that a quick google search can’t find about him.  But she throws it in there to fluff up her credibility because the longer and windier she is, the more of an expert she appears to be on the matter…. Sad part is, she appears to have convinced a few.

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The picture that she wants to paint of Cornstalk, however, is that he's a reprehensible character of history, cruel and vicious, and one who hated white people to his very core. This is mostly dealt with on the "racism" page of this website, but I'll touch lightly on it here.  

 

She tries to paint the entire time period around the Parker/Bluesky lives as being an era of overwhelming hatred between Indians and whites.  She is very wrong.  

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Of Cornstalk, it is said:

 

"As principal chief of all the Shawnees, he was responsible for putting personal desire aside and considering nation rather than self, and so he had sent runners to the chiefs of the other four septs and to all the individual village chiefs, entreating them to maintain the peace, to urge the young men eager to fight to ground their tomahawks and avoid encounters with whites wherever possible".

(Eckert, Allen W.. The Frontiersmen. N.p., Jesse Stuart Foundation, 2011.

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When Colonel Croghan sent his messenger William Wood to ask Cornstalk to come with a small party to Fort Pitt to discuss the colonial/Indian turmoil, Cornstalk accepted because he "welcomed this one last chance to reinstate the peace".  So, Cornstalk set off to Fort Pitt with his sister Nonhelema (known as the Grenadier Squaw), and his brother, Silver Heels. 

 

Upon arriving at the fort, they were encircled by a group of white frontiersmen and a 'melee' ensued.  When it was over, Silver Heels was on the ground, having been stabbed.  About the same time, Mingo chief Logan's entire family had been massacred.  Mingo had been a friend of the whites, and Cornstalk had previously warned him to not be blind to the lies of and viciousness of the whites.  The Shawnee leader, Cornstalk, still tried to convince his warriors that peace was still the best solution, but his warriors were demanding war and he was unable to change their minds.   These are some of the events leading up to Lord Dunmore's War.  (Eckert,). 

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Further evidence of Cornstalk's desire for peace can be found in the Bland Papers.  Cornstalk, through someone who penned his oration, states in a letter to Captain William Russell from Shawneetown on June 15th, 1775 [spelling errors are per the letter and remain in my presentation of the letter to you]:

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"Brothers the Bigg-Knife [i.e., Virginian, so called from the use of the sword"],  I was with you a few days ago, and you desire to know what my people had concluded on; now we have concluded to inform you, that your younger brothers, the Shawnees, is always willing to comply with any reasonable request the Bigg-knife shall ask.  you desire me to send you the negro wench and children, but I have only sent you the wench, as my people will not agree to give up the children, as they say they are thear own flesh and blood, and can't think of parting with them, therefore hopes you won't ask for them no more, as we are brothers and good friends; and as for your horse-creatures, I think we have give up all we took, or ha the white people's in our nation; I hope, brothers, you don't think that we took all the horses you lost, as their wear several other nations of Indians took horses, as well as my people;  therefore hopes you won't insist for any more, as it is not worth while talking of our creatures always, so we will drop that, and talk of nothing but peace and friendship.  

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Brothers, we met last fall and concluded a peace, which we expect to abide by; only we have to go to Fort Pitt, to have the peace confirmed [to] which we shall set off, in 6 or 8 days, as the Mingoes has started 3 days ago. 

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Brother Sucannai, you and I talked together last winter, that nary one of us should mind foolish people, which I hope you *** when that *** done not blame the Shawnees for it, without you no they did it.  You no when the Chearykees did the mischief this spring, your people thought it was the Shawnees.  Allways when you and I talks together, and when ever you write to me, you always say we should not mind foolish people, which I won't and hopes you won't and if any of our young mean should meat, and should have wounds, let us not mind it, as we are head-men *** peace is the *******

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I Cornstock *** going to the treaty of the Shawnees, Cornstalk and his brother Nimwhoughanaquatomma, and Cornstock's son." 

Bland, Theodorick. The Bland Papers. N.p., Applewood Books, 2009.  (page 35).  

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In terms of the picture the blogger tries to paint of extreme hatred by Indians towards white, how is it then, that so many people were able to move around the Indian towns so safely?

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As an example to my point, Christopher Gist, who worked as a surveyor for the Ohio Company, was sent out about 1750, from the eastern part of the U.S., deep into the Ohio Valley to survey lands.  Here is a partial list of towns that he and his crew stayed at along the way, enjoying meals, conversation and hunting with the Native People who lived there:  

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First journey:  Kiscominatis; Shannopini;  Loggs Town;  an Ottoway town on Elk's Eye Creek.  Elk's Eye was actually in reference to three waterways:  the Big Sandy, Tuscarawas, and the Muskingum River.  This town is named "King Beaver's Town; The town of Muskingum;  White Woman's Town, the town where a New England woman named Mary Harris who had been captured by the Indians when she was a child lived; Hockhockin; Maguck Town; Harrickintoms;  town of an Indian named Windaughalah (aka "Council Don") on Sciodoe Creek; Shannoah Town;  Pickwaylinees Towns;  Twigtwee by the big Miami River;  a Warrior's Camp which was part of a fort named La Demoiselle, named after the Miami chief of the same name.

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During the first journey, I want to point out that Gist spent some time on May 11th at Big Stony Creek in Giles County VA.  He mentions Sinking Creek, stating that the creek runs underground (sinks) before reaching the New River.  This is PARKER ADKINS' TERRITORY. The lake referred to in Gile's entry for that day sits on the summit of Salt Pond Mountain, about 10 miles east of Parisburgh (Pearisburg as it is now called).  

 

This puts Giles exactly in the town of Pembroke, VA, where lived Parker Adkins, Littleberry Adkins, Joseph Adkins, George Fry

(see image clips below, taken from "Montgomery County road orders 1777-1806").

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In 1751, at the beginning of November, Giles, his son and crew set out from the Company storehouse in Frederick County VA and began a new assignment (2nd journey) into Indian Country to survey land.  The Indian towns where he stayed were:  a Delaware hunting town; Nemicotton's town (oldest son of Chickonconnecon); hunting camp of an Indian Captain named Oppaymolleah.  

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In 1753, Christopher Gist was requested by Major George Washington to accompany him to the French fort on the Ohio River.  On this trip, they stayed at the following Indian towns/camps:  Shannopin's town;  Logstown (accompanied by King Shingiss and Lawmolach).  Provisions here were provided by Monocatoocha and Pollatha Wappia;  Cussewago;  an Indian cabin;  Queen Aliquippa's at the mouth of Youghiogany,  

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The above comes from:  Gist, Christopher, and Darlington, William McCullough. Christopher Gist's Journals: With Historical, Geographical and Ethnological Notes and Biographies of His Contemporaries. United States, J. R. Weldin & Company, 1893.

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If we were to believe this blogger, Christopher Gist never would have made it back from his FIRST journey, never mind three journeys where he ventured for miles, through the towns, villages and campsites of several different tribes of Indians (Shawnee, Wyandots, Delawares, Miamis, Twigtwees Mingoes, and others).  

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The fact is, that many Native American settlements/camps/towns were in close proximity to colonists towns/homesteads, and that there were regular interactions between them.

 

Early colonist accounts tell how whites and Native Americans intermixed.  One source says:

 

“When the Indians occupied Shawnee Town…

White settlers visited them from far and near”.

(See:  The Turnbo Manuscripts by Silas Claiborne Turnbo, https://thelibrary.org/lochist/turnbo/toc.html).

 

In another story, Turnbo tells of a shop owner, Beden Eslick, who had invited an ‘Indian’ to his home after the ‘Indian’ had shopped in his store.  Turnbo recites Eslick’s story by saying:

 

“The father invited all the Indians to his cabin… Though we could not understand their dialect, but we understood their signs.  They were all very friendly and peaceably disposed.  A few days after this the men of this band went out in the hills to kill big game and was gone several days.  My two brothers, John and Sam, were older than I and they requested father by signs to allow the boys to accompany them on the hunt.  The boys wanted to go and father gave them permission.  They said when they come back home they enjoyed being out with the red men…”

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The above comment showed that the Indians and frontier people actually enjoyed time spent with one another .

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The blogger spends a great amount of website space by talking about Cornstalk's atrocities, again, leaving out the causes that existed that drove him and other Shawnee to violence against settlers.  I've gone into this in dept on the 'Racism' page of this website, so please go there to continue this discussion.  In wrapping up my commentary on this topic, I'll just say that it's true that under Cornstock's leadership, that there were some tragic cruelties in the name of what they perceived as 'war' with the encroaching colonists, but Cornstock's heart yearned for peace.  Evidence, above.  Moving on...

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Her Problems with Bluesky:

The problem that she presents with Bluesky, is that her father, Cornstalk, was living at a distance from Parker, so that must mean that Bluesky must have always remained at the same distance also. 

 

Native Americans, much like some of us today, had tasks that varied between the genders.  She would NOT have remained with her father every minute of every day.  Her father had HIS OWN tasks, which also brought him away from her, but some may well have involved her.  The gender-distribution of tasks is another reason why there would have been OPPORTUNITY that Bluesky and Parker met.  Since we are making SUPPOSITIONS, one is as good as the other, right????

 

It is also factual that women traveled with the tribe on hunting and warring parties as well as for trading activities.  In Howard's work "Shawnee" (cited elsewhere on this website), it's stated:

"Women... OFTEN assisted... in trading." (page 143)

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She questions the age of Bluesky frequently in regard to when she might have given birth to Charity and Littleberry.  Her suppositions and questions are based on 21st century European norms, NOT the norms of Native American culture in a far-removed century.  

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She questions the fact that after Bluesky's death, that Parker would have been given care of the children, yet Howard's work tell us that is not surprising:

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"The children are always considered as belonging to the tribe of their father..." (page 88)

 

Having children with a man to whom she was not married was not an exceptionally 'big deal' in that culture and in that timeperiod:    

 

"Every couple nowadays connect themselves & spearate, as suits their convenience or inclination" (page 141)

 

In "Shawnee", Trowbridge's work is mentioned.  It's stated:

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"A woman's reputation was not affected by having children, even if the father were not known". He continues, "the average interval between births was two years.  Shawnee women, he says, began to bear children at the age of sixteen, and few continued to do so after 35 or 40" (pages 141-142).

 

Not only that but older women and women in with prestigious family connections served as Peace Chiefs and War Chiefs, spies and scouts, and were often traveling with the tribe whenever dealing with enemies or negotiating with colonists, which would give opportunity to Parker and Bluesky meeting.  

 

In fact, the position of women in Shawnee society is such that a woman (who they call 'grandmother') is creator.  This is exemplified by the fact that Cornstalk's own sister, Nonhelema, served in the role of Chief. 

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"Nonhelema was an important part of the community and lead the tribe’s peace council, according to Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma Chief Glenna J. Wallace...  “The peace council was always made up of females and there was always a leader of the peace council..."

https://www.wesa.fm/arts-sports-culture/2019-07-23/shawnee-chieftess-nonhelema-worked-to-negotiate-peace-in-the-18th-century

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Could Parker and Blue Sky Have Met?  Problems With the Blog’s Premise

The third supposition she makes is that Parker and Blue Sky could not have possibly met.  She goes on in her windbag way, and states that there were only a few places Cornstalk and his family could have lived.  And she lists several Shawnee towns.  She probably thinks if people read her blog, they’ll think she must be awfully intelligent to know ALL of those things. 

 

She goes on dreadfully long about the place name Chillicothe.  It’s nice that she knows that, but this has NOTHING to do with Parker or Bluesky or Cornstalk.  She throws it in, I suppose, to again ‘fluff’ up her story and make her readers think she has some deep knowledge of the facts.  But when it comes down to what DOES matter, she is ERRONEOUS.

 

The blog author is trying to distract you by adding her list of towns.  She doesn’t even mention the possibility of there being OTHER towns, and makes it appear that the list she gives you is exhaustive.  IT IS NOT.  The problem with her wind-bag talking points, is that the Shawnee were nomads.  In fact, the very name ‘Shawnee’ infers exactly that.  That means they had towns, indeed, but their settlement patterns were NOT stagnant.  There were more towns than she mentions (see a partial list here:  https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/vasowest.html#henry). 

 

The archaeology backs this up.  I’ll address the archaeology shortly. 

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The blogger wants to make you believe that there were NO Indians in the vicinity around Parker and his family.  In fact, this is not true.  Evidence in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography tells us otherwise:

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[The Longhunters] "rarely ever went more than two or three in one company, there reson for this was vary obvious, they hunted in the Weston part of Va. & Kentucky.  The country they hunted in was roamed over by the Indians..."

John Redd. “Reminiscences of Western Virginia, 1770-1790 (Concluded).” <i>The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography</i>, vol. 7, no. 3, 1900, pp. 242–253. <i>JSTOR</i>, www.jstor.org/stable/4242258. Accessed 29 Aug. 2021.

 

But even IF there were NO towns – the chance of the pair meeting remains a possibility just based on the general distribution and movement of the Shawnee people as a result of seasonal hunting, displacement by Europeans, and wars with other tribes.

 

In fact, travel and trade routes of the Shanwee went directly through the area where Parker was living.  These routes are almost identical to what later became known as the wagon routes, used by colonists.  Basically Parker and Cornstalk and Bluesky were all on the same paths when they traveled:

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The blogger states that Parker was in the militia, and had land surveyed.  Neither have been proven, but let's assume she is correct:   I would therefore suspect that Parker would have, at some point, actually GONE to the land that he was having surveyed.  Let's assume she is correct on both points, militia and land-owner/surveyor --- that means that he himself would have traveled extensively during his time as a soldier and a surveyor and settler of his lands, and the possibility of them meeting is a very REAL possibility.  But not if this author is allowed to tell the story unchallenged! 

 

Think about what a surveyor does for a minute. 

They travel at great distances distances and plot out tracts of land that can sometimes be (especially in those days!) thousands of acres. 

 

Surveying takes time even today with modern technology.  In THOSE days, when they measured everything by rods and chains and by footstep, it took forever!  And let's not forget the actual terrain that he would have been traversing was harsh.  I'm a map maker.  I'm certified as a property mapper by the State of North Carolina.  It's my profession and I can tell you with certainty that Parker, when engaged in surveying land that was previously  unmapped, through extremely rugged and mountainous terrain, would have been gone from his home for lengthy periods of time! 

 

He had the OPPORTUNITY to make children with Bluesky contrary to what is being fed to you in that self-serving blog!

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Her presumption that they could not have had the opportunity to meet when you think about the life ways of people living in the remote interior of the U.S. during that time period.  In order to secure food, people had to either grow/raise their own, or they hunted.  Wildlife was abundant, the woods were full of food sources.  Men regularly hunted, not out of sport, but out of necessity.  This took them out of the home, often for long periods of time.  Such a practice is explained in an article in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography where the author is discussing the life of someone from Pittsylvania, VA during the lifetime of Parker and Bluesky:

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"In the year 1776, I came by to see him, he was not at home, his wife informed me that he had gone on a hunt and had been absent a month".  

John Redd. “Reminiscences of Western Virginia, 1770-1790.” <i>The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography</i>, vol. 6, no. 4, 1899, pp. 337–346. <i>JSTOR</i>, www.jstor.org/stable/4242182. Accessed 29 Aug. 2021.

 

Also contrary to her SUPPOSITION that they weren’t likely to meet, is that the Shawnee weren’t in the area of Franklin County where Parker was.  However, the Fur Trade (Beaver Wars) disrupted the previous settlement patterns of the Shawnee, and about 1740, forced about 400 Shawnee from Pennsylvania into Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama and Illinois. So yes - it is VERY possible that Bluesky COULD have met Parker (see:  Stephen Warren, Worlds the Shawnees Made: Migration and Violence in Early America, UNC Press Books, 2014). 

 

As you can see in this early map of Franklin County Virginia, just south of the Pigg River is an old Buffalo Trail, again, giving evidence of Native American presence in the immediate area of Parker’s home:

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Archaeology as evidence that show that Parker and Bluesky had opportunity to meet:

As I mentioned, archaeology exists to prove there was Native American presence in that area of Virginia, which is contrary to what this blogger is trying to make everyone believe.  Please click on the following links to view archaeological evidence for Native American presence in the geographical area that Parker is known to have lived:

 

The science, in every instance in this story, weather it's DNA, historical, genealogical or archaeological, negates her claims and supports the case for Parker and Bluesky.

 

Meador Site, Franklin County, Virginia (Howard A. MacCord, Sr.

 

Brubaker Site, Franklin County, Virginia (Howard A. MacCord, Sr

 

https://core.tdar.org/document/163533/phase-i-investigation-the-site-of-south-street-apartments-city-of-franklin-southampton-county-virginia

 

Hunter Smith Collection: a Study of Pottery and Stone Artifacts from Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Buckingham, Campbell, Franklin, and Nelson Counties, Virginia (Gary W. Davis)

 

DHR – Virginia Department of Historic Resources » 033-0288 Otter Creek Archaeological Site

 

https://roanoke.com/news/local/archaeologists-uncover-artifacts-in-mountain-valley-pipeines-path/article_7e5590c4-fa42-52a3-96d3-603a1dcdcb88.html

 

Now, I could go through her blog line by line-by-line, but honestly, I’m bored and tired with all the ‘fluff’ and errors that she adds to her story when it is nothing but common historical knowledge or simply HER interpretation of that history in the context of these people. I have now addressed all four of her major suppositions and have provided MORE than fluff - I have provided academic material that disproves everything that she has written in which she conjures up HER OWN theories to discredit the Adkins' Family oral history.

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Oh, and if her BLOG isn't bad enough, she seemingly wants to eliminate any Native American ties in the Adkins/Cornstalk forum.  She appears to have a desire to discredit anyone with Native American ties that questions her one-sided approach to Native American genealogy.  She wields the power that she has been given as moderator of an Adkins family genealogy group and bans or blocks members who disagree with her strong-arm tactics and false information.  She removes any information from that genealogy group that is posted by anyone beside her and her cronies.  If I had a degree in psychology, I'd say she is a psychopath, or at the very least - narcissist whose only pleasure comes from the false sense of power in controlling the narrative of a family group that she shares no blood with.

 

In regard to her blog being accurate, I can't say that it is entirely inaccurate, but will say that it’s definitely long-winded, and that there are historical inaccuracies.  The conclusions she draws could equally and easily be drawn differently.  She asserts her opinion as being the ONLY possible option because she ONLY presents it from her point of view. 

 

If she has the right to present HER conclusions, so should anyone else.  So here we are.

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The above map is from the Franklin County Historical Society “A Settlement MAP of Franklin County Virginia, Giving the Names and Locations of Many of the Early Settlers in the Area from 1786-1886”, available at:  https://www.franklincountyva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/619/Settlement-Map-PDF

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