Dear Legendseekers.com,
My grandfather past away and I wanted to know more about him and his family, or my ancestors. I talked to my mom and she said she never really knew my grandfather, my dad’s father.  She told me that my grandfather lived in Colorado. That’s the only thing that I know about him. The reason I want to know is because my family is different from the rest of the family.  I would really appreciate you helping me in finding the real me.
Robert

Dear Robert,
Your letter really struck a cord with me....I started researching my family tree for very similar reasons.  The best place to start is to write down what you know, which will probably be your father's information. 

If you can, ask aunts, uncles, cousins for any information.  I'm assuming from your letter that your father is not alive... if that is the case - order a copy of your dad's death certificate.  On it there might be information about your grandparents.  If the informant did not know your grandparents information then order a copy of your father's birth certificate.  You'll need to go to the county website or courthouse where your father was born and in most states you can order the copy online. 

Birth and death certificates are great sources of information...information like occupations, burial date, cemetery location and even the number of siblings can be listed on the certificates.  After getting information such as your grandfather's name, birth date and death dates, you can start searching for his marriage certificate since that may list the name of your great-grandparents.  Basically what you want to do is to work backwards using the information previously mentioned along with wills, census records, and military records to mention a few.  If you really get into the search you might want to consider subscribing to an online record database like Ancestry.com but like anything the more practice you have researching the better you get at it. 

Keep in touch Robert and let us know how it goes. Legendseekers.com 

Dear Legendseekers.com 
I talked to my grandma and I learned something. I learned that my grandma's
mom is a Cherokee Indian in the Oklahoma area.  Then I talk(ed) to my dad and he
told me that my uncle knew her more because he was living with her.  So now
I’m going to go to his place so that I can know more about her.  What do you
know about Cherokee Indians?    Luis

Dear Luis,
Just because oral history says an ancestor three or four generations prior was an Indian doesn't necessarily mean it is true.  Remember it could be that since she lived in the Oklahoma area she might have associated with many Native Americans, but was not one herself.

You should search for collaborating evidence from death certificates, census records and other records first, starting from the present and working backward.  If other records confirm Indian heritage, the National Archives has tons of records in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).  However, before searching for your ancestor, you should first study the history of Cherokee Indians, (start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee ) and how to research Native American Indian genealogy from the many guides and articles that exist on the topic.  (Try some of the links located here: http://www.cyndislist.com/howto.htm   http://www.cyndislist.com/native.htm )

If you are going to visit your uncle go with a list of questions.  Be sure to ask when he lived with his grandmother and where. Find out if there were other people that he grew up with that knew her and could give you more information. See if he has documents or other papers, even letters that were your great grandmother's that might be able to prove or disprove the Cherokee connection. 

Good luck on your journey, Legendseekers.com