The Wabasha/Wapasha chiefdom is a heritary chiefdom of the Mdewakanton Dakota Sioux. I am a direct descendant of one of them, my 7th great grandfather, born 1718 in Minnesota. His mother was Ojibwe. He had a half brother Ojibwe Chief, Mamongazida of the Reindeer Clan. Chief Wapasha's daughter Mahpiahotawin (Grey Cloud Woman) married the notable Scot fur trader, James Aird. My descendancy in Minnesota reads like a Who's Who of the region. Further, Aird goes back to royalty in Europe.
Here is where a lot of the confusion comes in: Firstly, the person's name could change many times during their lifetime. Think of it as nicknames. They did not necessarily have a fixed first name that stayed with them. It could change due to a notable event in their lives. Secondly, we are dealing with times where the tribes were interacting with the British, French and sometimes Spanish. The tribes translated the person's name into their own language and the Europeans did the same, so often it's not really a different name, but the same name in another language. For example Wapasha means RED LEAF in Dakota. La Feuille means The Leaf in French. Thirdly, names in Native languages are usually spelled phonetically because of no written language. Spellings vary a great deal. I have never found a made up Chief of this line. These chiefs are all, real historical people. However, I cannot vouch for the veracity or origin of each name assigned to each person. I go by the dates of birth and death. I am actually in the process of trying to sort out names right now. I want to be accurate, but for the reasons described above, accuracy is subjective, in relation to each culture. These cutures were very intertwined. While the Ojibwe and Sioux were historical enemies, they did experience truces at times. My 7th great grandparents married during such a time. It can be difficult when searching for an individual who has several names attached to them. They could all be "correct" in the context of individual culture.
I had personally thought that being related to the Powhatan Confederation was fiction as well, but Gedmatch is giving me distinct matches to specific families that claim descendancy. Both Virginia and the tribes have excellent records. Just upon a glance, I have come within a couple of degrees of relationship to Pocahontas with my Cox family. There is a story that a wife of Wabasha was mixed and a descendant of the brother of Chief Wahunsenecawh, Opechancanough. This comes down through oral history in the Wabasha family from a respected clan mother. Keep in mind that Natives traded, formed alliances, intermarried, took slaves, just like their European counterparts.
I have also come across evidence of relationship with John Rolfe. I am directly descended from Cox, Hampton, Byrd and other notable families in Virginia.
I hope that gives some insight into what I see as the major issues of identification. I welcome any input, research, etc. My best e-mail is sonjachilds9@gmail.com. I am on Ancestry as SonjaLendeChilds, on Gedmatch, Geneanet, Geni, 23 & Me, Ftdna and more.
