Any way to find my ethnic heritage?

Question

My father did a search but got stuck back in the 1800's, he was looking for evidence of his native american ancestory. We supposedly have alot of Native American and supposedly some Arabic (I think Lebanese) back there somewhere and it has me curious. I cant help but think its unrealistic to have some Arabic in the family pool when the family is from the south and it hasn't shown up in the 1900's but I could be wrong. My father is interested in becoming more involved with the Native American community (he has it on both sides) but cant find proof of it.

I also heard rumors we're somehow related to Jesse James, but I do beleive that to be false.

Answer 1

Of course, there are ways to find your heritage, which may or may not be Native American.  At this point... that is the only real question that we can answer. You would find whatever info exists, by researching each individual ancestor, and seeing if records connect them.

It is possible that someone can "unstuck" whatever it is that he got stuck on.. but you have not given enough details for anyone to do any lookups on your behalf, or suggest sources that you might use.  It might be that dad was not aware of resources to use.. it might be that the specific info he needed, does not exist.

Family traditions are a very tricky thing.  They often are misleading... but with a grain of truth somewhere in the middle of it all.  Finding the grain is the challenge.. that applies to possible Arabic lineage, Native American, or The  James brothers.  

We have a solid group here on a regular basis, and you can ask all the questions you want.  The more specific you are, the better your chances that we can help.