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OUR FAMILY HISTORY
The Mathias El Tribe traces its present family foundation through the McCaster, Watson, Allen, Morant, Jemison, Campbell, Newsom, and related family lines. These families represent generations of documented continuity across the southeastern United States and beyond, preserving a history that spans Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, California, and other regions as family members established homes, communities, and relationships across generations.
Historical records associated with our direct ancestors include tribal enrollment records, census records, military records, land records, church records, vital records, newspaper articles, and other historical documents. Together, these records preserve a family history that extends across multiple generations and reflects the complex experiences of Indigenous families whose identities and legal classifications changed over time while their family continuity endured.
Our purpose is not to simplify that history, but to preserve it faithfully as additional historical records continue to emerge.
Maternal Family Lines
The maternal foundation of the present Mathias El Tribe includes the Allen and Morant family lines.
Direct ancestor Johnnie Mae Allen (later Morant) descended from the Allen family. Her documented family history includes ancestors associated with the Choctaw Nation and Creek communities whose roots extend through Alabama and Mississippi. Following her marriage to Richard Henry Morant, these family histories became joined and continued through later generations in Ohio, Michigan, California, and elsewhere.
The Morant family itself preserves an extensive documented history extending through Ohio and Michigan, with earlier ancestral roots that continue to be researched and preserved through historical records and family archives.
Paternal Family Lines
The paternal foundation includes the McCaster, Watson, Jemison, Campbell, Newsom, and related family lines.
Direct ancestor Millidge McCaster was born to Ned McCaster and Charlotte Campbell.
Charlotte Campbell descended from the Campbell and Newsom families. Historical records associated with her mother describe her as a full-blood Cherokee Indian, preserving an important part of our documented family history while recognizing that additional research continues regarding earlier generations.
Ned McCaster's ancestry reflects connections to the Swanson family line, illustrating the changes in surnames that often occurred across generations while maintaining continuous family relationships documented through historical records.
The Watson family descends through Ben C. Watson, whose ancestry extends through Henry Watson, Tom Watson, and John Watson, families whose documented history remained rooted in Alabama following the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek and whose descendants continued preserving those family connections across later generations.
The Jemison family forms another important branch of our paternal history. Through Rosa Jemison, the family preserves a documented lineage extending through Charlie (Charles) Jemison and earlier generations, contributing another important part of the historical continuity maintained by the Mathias El Tribe.
Preserving the Historical Record
The Mathias El Tribe exists, in part, to preserve these family histories for present and future generations. Our work is not limited to genealogy. It includes preserving historical documents, family records, constitutional materials, treaties, Acts of Congress, and other evidence that contributes to a more complete understanding of our family's continuity and the broader historical experiences of Indigenous families throughout the United States.
As additional records are discovered and verified, this historical archive will continue to grow in service to future generations.
Our Continuing History
The history preserved by the Mathias El Tribe is the continuing history of the families from whom the present community descends. It did not begin with the establishment of a modern institution, the adoption of a present-day name, or the application of any particular governmental classification.
Across generations, our direct ancestors lived throughout what are now Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, California, and other parts of the United States. Their lives reflected the broader history of Indigenous families whose communities endured changing laws, migrations, classifications, and governmental policies while maintaining family continuity across generations.
Among those ancestors are documented family lines including the Allen, Morant, McCaster, Watson, Campbell, Newsome, Jemison, Bell, Smith, Bryant, Ross, Swanson, and related families, whose histories collectively form part of the continuing historical record preserved by the Tribe. Their stories are preserved not as isolated genealogies, but as the living history of the community we represent today.
Throughout history, governments, agencies, and record keepers have applied different names, classifications, and descriptions to American Indian families and communities. Those labels changed over time. The families remained.
The work of the Mathias El Tribe is therefore not to create a new identity, but to preserve an existing history. We gather historical records, document family continuity, preserve genealogy, maintain governmental and judicial archives, and safeguard trust records so that future generations may inherit a more complete understanding of who their ancestors were, where they lived, what they experienced, and how their history continued across generations.
Operating through the Office of the Chief Justice and Trustee, the Tribe serves as a present-day steward of these historical, genealogical, governmental, judicial, constitutional, and trust records. This work is carried forward with a commitment to historical accuracy, responsible stewardship, and respect for every family whose story contributes to our continuing history.
We recognize that our family's history forms one part of the broader history of the Indigenous Peoples of North America. Accordingly, we approach neighboring Indigenous communities, governments, institutions, and the public with humility, mutual respect, and a sincere commitment to preserving the historical record, fostering understanding, and building relationships grounded in peace, dignity, lawful cooperation, and shared responsibility.
Crown Copyright Claim © 2025 The Mathias El Tribe - All Rights Reserved.
Constitutional Opinion No. 2026-001
On the Origin of Political Authority, the Constitutional Framework, and the Federal Trust Relationship