Geneology: Maternal and Paternal?

Question

I'm half Somali(paternal side). My mother is African American. How do I conduct a Native American geneology search? My mother's great grandfather(maternal side) was I beleive, from South Carolina. He didn't speak much English when he married my great-great grandmother. Now, pretty much everybody says he was a black Native American(nobody knows for sure). My great-grandmother has Native American features(high cheek bones, long nose with a hump on top, and small eyes) with dark brown skin, she looks a lot like him. Now my mother's grandfather(paternal side) was fair skinned with freckles from Mississippi. And she's told she looks like his daughter who had freckles, fair skin, and long red hair(she always wore it in two ponytails). I guess I should ask if I should do a Native American search, and do these sound like clues? And how do I search my father's side. The last name is Abdi, and it's way to many Abdi's to narrow down.

Answer 1

If your great grandparents were living in South Carolina and Mississippi, whatever their ethnic background, a US Census should document where they lived as well as the names and approximate ages of each family member.  The US Census started recording African Americans in 1870, although Native Americans didn't become citizens until 1924.

Starting with yourself and your parents, record all the pertinent data: births, marriages, and deaths.  Then working backwards, record what information you have on your grandparents and great grandparents.  This will give you a basis for comparison when you look at US Census records, which are available to the public from 1790 to 1930.  You can look up this information on microfilm at your local public library if it has a government document section, or US GenWeb may have this data on line free of charge.  Depending on the tribe, your Native American ancestors may--or may not--be on a tribal roll.  Many  libraries also allow their patrons to use their Ancestry.com account.  Good luck!

P. S.  Do you have any first names and birth and death dates as well as some additional last names for your great grandparents?  I've looked up the surname "Abdi" on Ancestry.com in both South Carolina and Mississippi and couldn't find any entries.  I should have been able to find something through Social Security or the US Census.

Genealogical entries contain similar information to the fictional entry below:

John Joseph Doe--born 25 Dec 1925,  Moore County, North Carolina, USA; died 4 July 1998, Longbeach, Los Angeles, California, USA; married Jane  Ann Smith, 7 Aug 1946, Miami, Dade, Florida, USA.

Children:  

John Joseph Doe, Jr.--born 14 February 1948, Miami, Dade, Florida, USA.

Julie Ann Doe--born  17 March 1952, San Jose, Santa Clara, California, USA.

Patricia Louise Doe--born 31 October 1955, San Jose, Santa Clara, California, USA.

Answer 2

Evelyn gave you a perfect answer. You simply follow each line individually. Take your time and document everything well. There will be different sources for your American ancestors than there will be for your Somali ancestors. For the Somali side, you need to contact  the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) center that holds the records for where your ancestors lived when they applied for permanent residency and naturalization. Their entire INS file is open to the public and you can find out a wealth of information about them that you can use to trace your family back in Somalia. The link to NARA is http://www.archives.gov