A great source of genealogical information may come from family bibles.
We have this page from the Hunter/Burns Family Bible. This given bible belongs to Emma Hunter Burns ✝ (1901-1969) the wife of James Lee Burns ✝ (1898-1988, our tribal chief). Where Mama Emma recorded the births of all 15 of their children.
Currently only two are still living. Four of these children had either died as babies or died before maturity.
Some notes regarding this page
I asked our tribal historian about the above page. How did she come across this document?
She stated that her aunt Lucyrene Burns Robinson ✝ provided her with a copy of this bible page in 2006. Aunt Lucy and her older brother Walter James Burns ✝ used this bible record to file for Social Security, as they didn't have actual birth certificates. The Social Security Administration used this as an official record.
Our tribal historian's note: During the era before birth certificates were issued for "colored people", a family's Bible records were considered official documents. The page from the Bible was accepted by authorities in lieu of a certified copy of a birth certificate in instances where one was never issued.
Next question is who has the Bible? My grandmother Gurtine Burns Howard ✝ took possession of the Bile once her mother Emma had passed away in December 1969. One of Gurtine's daughters - the tribal historian's sister - kept up with the Bible. When my grandmother's home had been demolished to build a new one in its place, it became unclear what happened to Emma's Bible.
I asked our tribal historian if she had seen that Bible, she has not. However we do have the above record of all birthdates for all of the children of James (our tribal chief) and his beloved wife Emma Burns.
Editor's note: For those who are living I'm respecting their privacy as much as possible. The ones who have transitioned ✝ are the ones who are being mentioned by name.