Chief of the Turtle Clan is believed to be the father of Mitha Parker. Wife of Richard Parker, mother of Elizabeth Parker Adkins/Atkinson.
Straight Tail (1630-1709). This post is for those of you that have followed the “Mithaology” lore on this family blog. I was hoping to get some documentation to prove that Mitha was indeed the daughter of Straight Tail and a Pekowi woman. But lets face it, it the was the 1600’s – what still exists?
Most Indian documentation of any kind, was lost on or during the Trail of Tears.
Now, I’m not sure how this could be, but they claim Straight Tail was born abt 1630 in Ohio, but there weren’t many people in Ohio back then. The Iroquoians had come and murdered almost everyone in the Ohio valley. It wasn’t safe to live here.
This is why they gave lots of land to the Irish to settle. Thinking the Irish were hated, almost as much as the Indian at that time. They thought they could clean it up and kill each other off. Its more likely that he would have been born more toward Pennsylvania than Ohio, but I can’t prove it. Just mere speculation on my part.
I’m just not a hater, so I can’t imagine peoples being so mean to one another, but I know it happened. I don’t know how or why, but it happened; a brief history lesson.
TURTLE CLAN
CHIEF STRAIGHT TAIL
Spouse(s)
Pekowi Woman (1635 – UNK)
Shawano Woman Bear Clan (1650 – UNK)
Known Children
Wolf Straight Tail (1654 – 1685)
Mary Seaworth Sewatha Straight Tail Chartier (1660 – 1759)
Cakundawanna-Sevana/(1662- )
Snow White Straight Tail (1666 – UNK)
Mitha (1668 – 1754)
John White Straight Tail (1670 – 1715)
Opessa Opeththa Straight Tail (*1675 – 1760)
Daughter-(wife of Tamenebuck)(1674 – UNK)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Note: Opessa aka Opethatha-Wapatha-Wopatha-Hopesha-Opessa Straight Tail-Oppaymolleh – Pekowi born *1664 OH-died latter 1760 OH
Look at your past. Your past has determined where you are at this moment. What you do today will determine where you are tomorrow. Are you moving forward or standing still? ~ Tom Hopkins
Metcalf Family Mews 
January 4, 2017 at 12:22 pm
In a list of children in Wikipedia of Straight Tail there is no Mitha listed.
June 26, 2017 at 3:23 pm
E. Leiser, You are very mistaken. Mitha was also known as Minitha Straight Tail. She IS MY ANCESTOR. Here she is, on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_Tail_Meaurroway_Opessa#Children
July 30, 2017 at 10:12 pm
I just located this Chief straight tail on my geneology tree and I’ve never heard anything about it. I really would like to have more information on him. I also would be a descendant of Mitha I would like to know how to pronounce some of these names.
Tina McClure Mortensen.
September 2, 2017 at 2:06 pm
I must eat crow. When all is said and done, all I have is the name Mitha on Richard Parker II’s Will was his wife and ZERO sourced evidence that she was Mitha Straight Tail. Good luck on that!
September 19, 2017 at 11:36 am
I double eat crow. There are mentions of this union in old colonial records. There are also family genealogies galore that all say Mitha Straight Tail was the wife of Richard Parker II. We are under a propaganda attack. And that by our own brethren. It’s another case of “kick the descendants under the train.” It sickens me. I had a “Chief” of one of the federal tribes even tell me that “Snow White Straight Tail doesn’t sound Shawnee to me.” What? He knew some genealogy of those on certain rolls that were relocated. His knowledge of the descendants who were assimilated or there genealogies IS NEXT TO ZERO. He dismisses us a FAKES.
January 8, 2018 at 11:12 am
Read the following source….it is from a book written by Don Greene called “Shawnee Heritage IV”. Read page 88.
https://books.google.com/books?id=WtAeCAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA84&dq=%22gideon%20lewis%22%20%22nancy%20osborne%22&pg=PA88#v=onepage&q=mitha&f=false
January 9, 2018 at 1:27 am
Just starting this genealogy adventure….seems I am also able to claim Mitha as an ancestor on my paternal grandmother’s side, 11 (I think( generations back through Elizabeth Parker Adkins.
February 20, 2018 at 1:06 am
Margaret opessa pekowi woman is my 9th great grandmother.
Opessa opeththa straight tail kakawatchekee is my 10th great grandfather
Pekowi shawnee woman kakawatchekee is my 10th great grandmother.
I just found this out. For how far it goes back anyways.. If u know any kindy of heritage or story’s. I would love to learn anything i could on them.
March 1, 2018 at 5:24 pm
My ancestor trail on my father’s side led me to Chief Meaurroway Straight Tail Opessa
As I understand he is also the great grandfather of Tecumseh in whom I’m apparently also related to.
Genealogy is so great.
This could possibly make me related to some of you
June 17, 2018 at 6:03 pm
I just found out that that I can connect my family tree to Meaurroway Straight Tail Opessa. This shocked me because I did not think there were any native Americans on the tree. To find out that it was one of the important ones of the Shawnee was an additional thrill. I am looking forward to finding out more.
July 17, 2018 at 4:07 pm
I just found MInitha in my ex husbands tree (Elizabeth Parker mother). I am trying really hard not to go on “hearsay” – has her parentage really been proven?
July 26, 2018 at 10:25 pm
I also have Minitha on my tree….married to Richard Parker father of Elizabeth Parker…very confusing…would love some more information…Thank you…
August 15, 2018 at 8:28 pm
I am proud of my Shawnee history. I descend from, Mary Seaworth Sewatha Straight Tail Chartier
January 13, 2019 at 12:41 am
Last week on my family tree Mitha was listed as the mother of Elizabeth Parker, but this week it has changed to Elizabeth Ballard as the mother. Another wife of Richard Parker. This was on familysearch.org I am so confused at who decides to change the trees? Does this happen often. One minute a person could have an Irish descendant and the next it has switched to German. Or in this case, a Shawnee and now English. What is going on?
April 2, 2019 at 3:37 pm
Found this in Family Tree as related to John White (1670-1710):
Father meaurroway straight tail
Mother mother opessa pekowi woman Shawnee
NO DNA attributed to Native Americans in the Ancestry DNA Test.
John White born in Scotland.
Strange..
April 3, 2019 at 8:47 am
As much as people say they’re this or that is irrelevant; Unless it’s published, documented, and verified- NOT by hearsay, NOT by seeing someone in a tree then copying it as fact, because they are NOT facts UNLESS there are sources to back it up- anyone can put anything in a tree, like a game of never-ending ‘I’m related to this person because I saw it in a tree from someone who saw it in a tree from someone who saw it….so on and so on. YOU must do your own research on each person because names, dates, places are more similar than you know, and if it isn’t verified by census, birth/death documents, any other authentic gov. and/or credentialed institution- then it means nothing.
It’s like a game of phone tree, every time someone passes info to the next, it gets exaggerated, changed, and nothing related to the info the 1st person said.
April 3, 2019 at 11:44 am
Well said!
June 13, 2019 at 11:43 am
I’m a descendant of Chief Straight Tail and his daughter (Margaret) Opessa Straight Tail that married Alexander McKee (The Great White Elk). Thank you for sharing.
June 18, 2019 at 11:28 am
Joseph is right about the need for genealogical proof, however, family historians and genealogist must consider oral traditions and stories. They can and often should be included. Stories and traditions should be clearly annotated and sourced, when possible. I have had several family stories that were good leads.
Oral histories have been practiced for millennia, not just by our native Indian brethren, but also by our European and American poor. Yes, they do get changed and enhanced in the tellings. They express the feeling of the storyteller. As researchers, we must pick apart the stories to find the truth.
MInitha and Richard Parker are in my wife’s tree. So is the Gowen/Goin family, who trace back to a freed Black slave in the 1600s. DNA cannot provide reasonable prove this far back, Stories/historical articles, and family histories may be all we get.
Documentation and records are what we hope for, so that meet genealogical proof standards.
Respectfully,
Tom
May 31, 2020 at 8:50 pm
Perhaps,we demand a stronger DNA test and have all who claim Minitha and others take it and then put all the haters to rest. I would gladly pay more for that test to have my family honored.
September 6, 2020 at 10:37 pm
I have recently found out that Chief Straight Tail is my 7th great grandfather. His daughter, (Margaret) Opessa Straight Tail married Thomas Edward McKee, who is my 6th great grandfather. My great grandmother is Laura McKee who is daughter of Charles McKee. I have loved researching my family history and hope to learn more about it.
October 6, 2020 at 7:09 pm
My hubby’s a descendent of Mitha. she had a daughter named Catherine Parker who married a Rich.
November 13, 2020 at 8:24 pm
Seek truth and ye shall find. Research truth and ye shall discover and study truth and ye shall gain knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
My surname, “Straight Tail” is through my father’s family line passed down through War Chief Tecumseh Straight Tail on back through many Straight Tails.
What really makes this so exciting, thrilling and extremely so special to me, not only finding this through 4 years of my own family genealogy research and study of U.S records and U.S documentations based on truth, but that my family never talk about any of this and never told me anything about any of this. Watts funny and contrary to a lot of families out there, my family stories have been the complete opposite of most family. 99.99% of all of my family family stories that have been passed down to my father, my mother and my half sisters has always center around and came from European countries, in particular England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Germany and because of this, for most of my life, I never my true identity and who I really was , until now. I am 3/4 (75%) Kituwah (Cherokee), because my father is full blood Kituwah (Cherokee) and my mother is half Kituwah (Cherokee, but even through my mother’s mother is none Kituwah (Cherokee), it is through her family that I am Pamunkey and blood related to Pocahontas and her family and it is also through her family that I have African bloodlines from Africa mixed with several European countries.
This deceptively misleading lie about my Chief John Watts being half Scottish and half Cherokee married a White is nothing more than a false made up story by the British to deceptively mislead for selfish gain, wealth, fame and fortune and nothing less, but White greed. None of these are true about him and his family. These British fantasies and fairytale false stories and deceptive lies are more than beyond wrong and misleading on all levels in every single way, shape and form about all of these deceptively false and misleading misinformation claims of nothing but all lies from Britain, France, Spain and many other White European countries who deceptively manipulated recordings by deceptive manipulations and misleading misinformation of my Native peoples and Tribal Nations, not only for our destruction, but also for profit, money, wealth, selfish gain, fame and fortune as well as to deceptively mislead all people for all future generations to come.
First of all, dna isn’t proof and doesn’t provide any proof of Native American and dna is just another White man tool used as a method and strategy to assimilate us into White society. Secondly, Chief John Watts is actually Tecumseh StraightTail and he married a full blood Kituwah (Cherokee) woman.
I have been doing my own family genealogy research and study for 4 to 5 years and still digging deeper and deeper into my research and study as we speak.
My 2nd Great Grandfather, War Chief Tecumseh Pukeshenew StraightTail is full blood Muskogee (Creek) and his wife, Nepikeweewa Cornstalk Greenwood “Rising Fawn” Black Fox is full blood Kituwah (Cherokee) and their son, Jacob Zachariah Watts is half Muskogee (Creek) and half Kituwah (Cherokee) and Jacob’s wife, Elizabeth Raven is full blood Kituwah, which makes their son, Richard Watts also half Muskogee (Creek) and half Kituwah (Cherokee), but Richard’s wife, Ethel Bearpaw is also full blood Kituwah, just like his mother.
Osyio (hello in Cherokee), my name is Justin and I have been doing my own family genealogy research and study for over 4 years years now, beginning sometime in the Spring of 2017. All though this Chief is my Great Grandfather and is possibly the most feared War Chief of all Native Nations at his time, his name is Tecumseh StraightTail, not John Watts as deceptively and false misleading claims made. My Great Grandfather, Jacob Zachariah Watts is the son of Tecumseh Pukeshenew and Nepikeweewa Cornstalk Greenwood “Rising Fawn” Black Fox and the husband of Elizabeth Ker-You-Cha-He Betsy White Owl (b. Raven). My Grandfather, Richard Watts is the son of Jacob Zachariah Watts and the husband of Ethel Bearpaw, who is my Grandmother.
By the way, my Grandparents Richard Watts and Ethel Bearpaw are my father’s parents, which means my father is full blood Kituwah (Cherokee). My mother is a half Kituwah (Cherokee), her father who is my Grandfather is full blood Kituwah (Cherokee), who is the son of my Great Grandparents, Richard Hummingbird and Lucy Mankiller. Richard Hummingbird is the son of my 2nd Great Grandparents, James Hummingbird and Jensie Bendabout, who are both are full blood Kituwah (Cherokees) and the parents of my Great Grandmother, William Mankiller and Nancy Wolf are also full blood Kituwah Cherokees. Both of my parent’s, my father’s and my mother’s family, for several generations on back, who traveled via the “Trail Of Tears”, which started in March, 1830 Old Cherokee Nation (Southeast), beginning in Georgia and ended in 1839, May Stilwell, Oklahoma. My family, for 4 to 5 generations, have always lived in Indian Territory, Muskogee (Creek Nation) and Kituwah (Cherokee Nation) (now Oklahoma).
October 19, 2021 at 6:54 am
I did my DNA and was pleasantly surprised to find Am Indian pop up. Then I found where it was hiding, behind my brick wall.
William Adkins (1721-1784) < Elizabeth Parker (1695-?) < Mitha Straight Tail.
Has anyone else done their DNA? Mine is on 23, GED, FTdna and Myheritage. Chr 3 has the largest amount and that's not much, but it's something. Here's to tyeing up loose ends…
December 15, 2021 at 4:33 am
Well… Still researching and studying my family genealogy and since I last wrote this report on my family, not only I found out that I don’t have any African blood in me like I had thought, but I discovered and found that I have both Choctaw and Pamunkey from both, my Grandmother’s father’s side and her mother’s father’s side.
April 13, 2022 at 1:04 am
I have just found all these Indian ancestors. I am beyond elated because I have been searching for years. Suddenly they connected to my 3rd great grandma, where I have been looking for years. However, my family is being totally indifferent about it. I have no one to share it with. Everyone is so skeptical that I want to be absolutely positive. Can anyone tell me the names and dates for the parents of Straight Tail Meaurroway Opessa, 1630-1709? Because so many names are similar it is hard not to confuse and duplicate them.
May 31, 2022 at 5:19 am
War Chief, Tecumseh Straight Tail and his wife, Nancy Blackfox are my 3rd Great Grandparents and are the parents of my 2nd Great Grandfather, John “Bear” Watts (Blackfox). John is the father of my Great Grandfather, Jacob Zachariah Watts (Blackfox), who is the father of my Grandfather, Richard Watts and Richard watts is the father of my father, Richard Bearpaw II. My father, Richard Watts Bearpaw II is the son of Richard watts and Ethel Bearpaw (original family surname derived from Bear’s Paw) and it is through Ethel’s father, my Paternal Grandfather, Daniel Bearpaw’s side that I am the proud 2nd Great Grandson of Bri. Gen. Stand Watie Bearpaw (Cherokee Mounted Riflemen of the Southern Confederacy).
March 2, 2023 at 12:03 am
I’m sorry but this is untrue. Mitha listed in Richard Parker’s will was not the mother of any of his children. They married later in life and she had three previous husbands. She also didn’t have the surname “straight tail”. The Mitha whom Parker married was born Micha/Michal HARRIS. She shows up in the will of one of her sons from a previous marriage as Micha Parker (also in Henrico). It’s the same woman. She wasn’t Shawnee. She was English. The only “source” for her being Shawnee is from this Greene author and he doesn’t list any primary sources. Just family legends.
Think about it- Why would a Shawnee woman be in Southern Virginia in the 1600s?!
March 2, 2023 at 12:06 am
The mother of Richard Parker’s children was his first wife Elizabeth Ballard. He married Micha later in life when they were past child bearing years for the times. She didn’t mother any of his children and she absolutely was not Shawnee.
March 21, 2023 at 1:02 am
I found Meaurroway’s family in my tree about a year ago with Chief John White as my 7th great grandfather on my mother’s side. Last week I found them all on my dad’s side with Minitha as my 7th great grandma over there when a Doss married her granddaughter Elizabeth Atkins/Atkinson. Are you telling me this isn’t true? Also, I keep finding Native Americans in other strands in Dad’s family, including Caniachkoo’s wife. It’s confusing whether that is Nimeeth or Pekowi Woman or if they are one in the same. Some of my ancestors from the Netherlands married into the family in the 1600’s. I think the reason this is happening is all my family lines go way back. They came to America very early. Nobody wants to hear that Tecumseh, Chief Cornstalk, and other famous people are on our tree. I have only mentioned that Pocahontas keeps showing up to a couple people and they definitely don’t want to hear that. Yet, none of our DNA tests show anything native. I guess it is too far back. It’s frustrating. Does anyone still monitor this post?