People can submit their family trees on the big genealogy websites, and that part is not verified at all by the companies.
Lynn Bancroft: So many families have these tales or themes of an “Indian princess” or somebody who was cast off — and, generally speaking, they aren’t true. The facts come out if you do the genealogy and find out that there was no Native American blood at all in your family. The other caveat, too, is that you must verify information that you see online. People can submit their family trees on the big genealogy websites, and that part is not verified at all by the companies. A lot of people just take what’s online as gospel, add it to their family tree, and proliferate it, believing it’s true, but real genealogy takes proof — it takes finding sources that confirm facts every little step of the way.