Aww, sorry your laptop died, but sounds like you're making the best of it. I hope your new computer works out for you. I actually get most of my inspiration for new Sims from here on the forum. I love doing challenges so I cruise that board a lot and threads for specific challenges there. Or sometimes I'll read a thread someone has posted about their gameplay and/or ideas for others and something will spark my interest.
I also like to watch Let's Plays on YT and those will sometimes inspire me for a new Sim/Save file as well. Sometimes I'll base a new Sim on a character in a book I've read too. But, challenges are what inspire me the most. :)
EDIT: BTW I too have a Native American Sim. His name is Noah Noonday and is from the Potawatomi tribe of the Ottawa Nation. He's based on the real Potawatomi Chief Noonday of Michigan fame. His first name was Noahquageshik or Nawquageezhig, but I shortened it for my character.
Noah is the founder of my Build Newcrest Challenge. In my mind I imagined that he had won a battle for ancestral land and is now working to build a community there. So far he has married Cassandra Goth and they have two children; Kewanee and Payson. :)
