I am looking for William J. Powell

I may be related to this POWELL. Did he have a son, John Henry Powel? John Henry had, J.D. Powell and I am Joan Powell in Salem, Or.

What time frame did he live? Native research can be frusrating as many people had 2 names, their white name and their indian name. Try looking for land patents, annuity pay roll records(money given by the fed gov't for injustices), and native census. Many of these list both names and may help keep you rolling. In most cases families collected payroll together, so often families are listed together. National Archives have a lot of this stuff and there may be some stuff available from the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). Since you know what tribe, see if the tribe will help with research or provide access to their records. Keep in mind native records will probably only go back to the mid to early 1800's. In "normal" genealogy, women typically assimilated into their husband culture, natives typically went to live more amongst the white society. Educating yourself on the trbal history will help too. Good Luck!