Why do Many People think they are Cherokee or part Native American, when they are not?

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Weedygarden

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I have no doubt. I am 100 % of European descent, half German, half Czech. What about you?

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...cans-believe-they-have-cherokee-ancestry.html
The history of a myth.

“I cannot say when I first heard of my Indian blood, but as a boy I heard it spoken of in a general way,” Charles Phelps, a resident of Winston-Salem in North Carolina, told a federal census taker near the beginning of the 20th century. Like many Americans at the time, Phelps had a vague understanding of his Native American ancestry. On one point, however, his memory seemed curiously specific: His Indian identity was a product of his “Cherokee blood.”
The tradition of claiming a Cherokee ancestor continues into the present. Today, more Americans claim descent from at least one Cherokee ancestor than any other Native American group. Across the United States, Americans tell and retell stories of long-lost Cherokee ancestors. These tales of family genealogies become murkier with each passing generation, but like Phelps, contemporary Americans profess their belief despite not being able to point directly to a Cherokee in their family tree.


Recent demographic data reveals the extent to which Americans believe they’re part Cherokee. In 2000, the federal census reported that 729,533 Americans self-identified as Cherokee. By 2010, that number increased, with the Census Bureau reporting that 819,105 Americans claimed at least one Cherokee ancestor. Census data also indicates that the vast majority of people self-identifying as Cherokee—almost 70 percent of respondents—claim they are mixed-race Cherokees.

Why do so many Americans claim to possess “Cherokee blood”? The answer requires us to peel back the layers of Cherokee history and tradition.

Most scholars agree that the Cherokees, an Iroquoian-speaking people, have lived in what is today the Southeastern United States—Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama—since at least A.D. 1000. When Europeans first encountered the Cherokees in the mid–16th century, Cherokee people had well-established social and cultural traditions. Cherokee people lived in small towns and belonged to one of seven matrilineal clans. Cherokee women enjoyed great political and social power in the Cherokee society. Not only did a child inherit the clan identity of his or her mother, women oversaw the adoption of captives and other outsiders into the responsibilities of clan membership.


As European colonialism engulfed Cherokee Country during the 17th and 18th centuries, however, Cherokees began altering their social and cultural traditions to better meet the challenges of their times. One important tradition that adapted to new realities was marriage.

The Cherokee tradition of exogamous marriage, or marrying outside of one’s clan, evolved during the 17th and 18th centuries as Cherokees encountered Europeans on a more frequent basis. Some sought to solidify alliances with Europeans through intermarriage.

It is impossible to know the exact number of Cherokees who married Europeans during this period. But we know that Cherokees viewed intermarriage as both a diplomatic tool and as a means of incorporating Europeans into the reciprocal bonds of kinship. Eighteenth-century British traders often sought out Cherokee wives. For the trader, the marriage opened up new markets, with his Cherokee wife providing both companionship and entry access to items such as the deerskins coveted by Europeans. For Cherokees, intermarriage made it possible to secure reliable flows of European goods, such as metal and iron tools, guns, and clothing. The frequency with which the British reported interracial marriages among the Cherokees testifies to the sexual autonomy and political influence that Cherokee women enjoyed. It also gave rise to a mixed-race Cherokee population that appears to have been far larger than the racially mixed populations of neighboring tribes.
 
Interesting take. Makes sense.

Also cooler to brag of decent from a distant Cherokee Princess ancestor than to admit that great-great-great-great Grandpa was a steerage passenger from Europe or imported slave from Africa or the Caribbean. More romantic sounding I guess. Like checking DNA percentages for your mixed breed doggo. People are curious about their genealogical origins... in a nation where most of us are Mutts.

I imagine that deep down, some folks feel closer to America by belief in a blood connection to its native inhabitants. Even if by 6 degrees of separation.
 
Unlike the article I can point to a specific ancestor, she was my grandmothers grandmother and Chickasaw. Did my family try to identify as such? Not that I'm aware. I know of no advantage it would have gained anyone in 1870 or 1930. Most were simple farmers trying to feed their kids. My grandfather taught me some plant medicine he learned from her. Sometimes it was mentioned among family members when I was a kid but that was the extent of it. I've never made the claim on an official government form of any type, never saw a reason to. I have mentioned it in conversation or thread like this but... Like the last post said... we are a nation of mutts. It is interesting to learn about the ancestors of others though.

That said I've also met more than one or "Cherokee Princesses" in my life.
 
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To get into college and then politics maybe?
I'll leave that to Liz Warren... My ancestor was living with the Creek Tribe when she married. So, was she even pure Chickasaw? Who knows? But it makes some sense in that today I live in what was Chickasaw territory and not Creek.
 
Unlike the article I can point to a specific ancestor, she was my grandmothers grandmother and Chickasaw. Did my family try to identify as such? Not that I'm aware. I know of no advantage it would have gained anyone in 1870 or 1930. Most were simple farmers trying to feed their kids. My grandfather taught me some plant medicine he learned from her. Sometimes it was mentioned among family members when I was a kid but that was the extent of it. I've never made the claim on an official government form of any type, never saw a reason to. I have mentioned it in conversation or thread like this but... Like the last post said... we are a nation of mutts. It is interesting to learn about the ancestor of others though.

That said I've also met more than one or "Cherokee Princesses" in my life.
I know that different tribes have different benefits for their members. One of my college friends, half Mandan Sioux, got everything paid for: tuition, board and room, clothing, books, allowance, by her tribe. Her lineage had to be documented. She was able to get a B.A. and a M.A. because of her documented lineage. Her sons were able to do the same. Many people would love to be able to get college plus living paid for while in college. There were several Native Americans in college with the same thing going on. Most were nursing majors at my college.
 
Interesting take. Makes sense.
Also cooler to brag of decent from a distant Cherokee Princess ancestor than to admit that great-great-great-great Grandpa was a steerage passenger from Europe or imported slave from Africa or the Caribbean. More romantic sounding I guess. Like checking DNA percentages for your mixed breed doggo. People are curious about their genealogical origins... in a nation where most of us are Mutts.
I have enough defective DNA in my body already.
Don't need to go looking for no more :(.
 
The southeast is different than the western tribes time wise. The French settled Mobile in 1702 and they traded with the Creek, Chickasaw and Cherokee and intermarried with them. The "Trail of Tears" started 130 years later.

These days each southeastern tribe has a different standard as to what percentage of blood constitutes a tribe member... which usually means descendants of those who went to Oklahoma.

For Alabama we're talking 300 years of marriages... again, who can prove what and what would be the point? If someone needs a government program to go to school they can usually find one.

But back to the article above I think for some their claim is more of a romantic idea...
 
The southeast is different than the western tribes time wise. The French settled Mobile in 1702 and they traded with the Creek, Chickasaw and Cherokee and intermarried with them. The "Trail of Tears" started 130 years later.

These days each southeastern tribe has a different standard as to what percentage of blood constitutes a tribe member... which usually means descendants of those who went to Oklahoma.

For Alabama we're talking 300 years of marriages... again, who can prove what and what would be the point? If someone needs a government program to go to school they can usually find one.

But back to the article above I think for some their claim is more of a romantic idea...
Trail of Tears: I had a student whose father was part Native American, and his ancestors were moved via the Trail of Tears, to Oklahoma. When they arrived in Oklahoma, they could receive some benefits if they said they were not Native American. It doesn't make sense to me now, but we are talking more than 20 years ago that I had this conversation.
 
I’m simply an Appalachian American, a purebred mutt.

My mutt lineage is 50% English and 50% German with both sides crossing the Atlantic in the 1640s and 1650s and settling in the Appalachians in the early 1700s.
 
My ex's great great grandma was supposed to have been from the Sauk and Fox. Her dad said he had dim memories of her on the porch smoking a corn cob pipe. And some of the family does have a reddish complexion. But they all have bright blue eyes and light hair. If there's native genetics in there, they're pretty weak. But in any case my daughter supposedly is around 2% native...
 
being non white is in fashion. those with no sense of self or self respect gotta make up stories to cover their emptiness.

and dont forget, its a political victim ticket one can ride a long time, just ask liz warren.. according to her all ya need is high cheekbones, right>

in 50-50 irish german, part of me explodes like a volcano and the other part doesnt give a ****. its been an interesting life. both sides didnt come here til after the civil war. no one ever owned slaves like kamala harris and obamas families did.

i dont owe a dime in reparations to anyone.

in fact one of the irish ancestors was on a ship coming to us, NYC thought they had enough of us irish hillbillies and refused to let them dock. i guess there was some kind of boycott of the irish at that time. so the ship had to go north to canada , docked there--had to spend some time on some isiand in quarentine then. once legal in canada they Walked doen to the us having canada entry papers that was accepted by the us.

i declare NYC racist and prejudiced against the irish, americas white slave class, refusing entery due to race.

i demand reparations for the persecution suffered by my irish ancestors.
5 million isnt quite enough for all the suffering but ill humbly accept it if it helps them feel better..

do i send the bill to coumo?
 
Trail of Tears: I had a student whose father was part Native American, and his ancestors were moved via the Trail of Tears, to Oklahoma. When they arrived in Oklahoma, they could receive some benefits if they said they were not Native American. It doesn't make sense to me now, but we are talking more than 20 years ago that I had this conversation.

This is a big reason why it's sometimes hard for people to learn any details about their family heritage. In Oklahoma, people would outright deny it or downplay the connection. It was not discussed and it was not acknowledged. One of my uncles was Black Dutch - a common euphemism for Choctaw. Another uncle told me he was 21 years old before he found out that his father was half Choctaw and his mother was half Cherokee.

For those previous generations, that denial was bone deep because it meant surviving.

I don't doubt, at all, that a very large part of the population with Southern roots has at least some Cherokee blood. They assimilated with Europeans very quickly, assumed English names and intermarried. They fought desperately for survival and went all the way to the Supreme Court trying to reclaim their lands and autonomy. That legal battle led to them being herded like animals to Oklahoma.
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia: The Case and Its Impact (thoughtco.com)

I might only have enough Cherokee blood to fill a thimble but unlike the vile, opportunistic lying Elizabeth Warren, I know the names of the women I am descended from who gave it to me, where they lived and who they married. Because of the scarcity of records, many people - probably most people - don't have that knowledge but their family history tells of a connection and acknowledging that connection ties us to the land.

I only read one of Wilma Mankiller's books but it was filled with history that tells the tale if anyone is interested. I think this is the one.
Mankiller: A Chief and Her People by Wilma Mankiller (goodreads.com)
 
My cousin did research on the family tree on my father's side. Chased my grandmothers tree back to Secord that came over on the Mayflower . Lots of intermingling with northern Italian (dark hair blue eyes). My mother's side was mostly Hungarian.

The Princess chased back my last name to Ashcanazi (sp?) Jew.

Ben
 
Your DNA will, if examined, show Amerind ancestry if it's there, and its percentage. May not point to a specific tribe, but will identify a tribal group, e.g Iroquois or Algonquin or Sioux. Dunno about "The Civilized Tribes" specifically. I once paid $60 for a test that revealed me to be ~0.4 % Pima. Grampa Lombard's claim that his great grandmother was an Indian princess was not confirmed. Grampa didn't say that she was Mohican, at least.
 
My cousin did research on the family tree on my father's side. Chased my grandmothers tree back to Secord that came over on the Mayflower . Lots of intermingling with northern Italian (dark hair blue eyes). My mother's side was mostly Hungarian.

The Princess chased back my last name to Ashcanazi (sp?) Jew.

Ben
Ashkenazi - northern European Jewry. Southern Jewry is general labeled Sephardic. Aside from Yiddish being an Ashkenazi creation, that's the extent of what I maybe know about it.
 
I describe myself with just two words. "I am".
Not in the Biblical sense as I have no misgivings of being god-like. I just find that putting more after "I am" limits me. It would take pages in order not to restrict who and what I am or may become. Be assured that not all of what I am is necessarily good. I have flaws too.
 
I sometimes wonder how the Indian princess myth came to be since there was no such person. Maybe early colonists used it to denote the daughter of a chief? I have heard people say that their great grandmother was a Cherokee princess. My great grandmother was Cherokee but she was a poor woman named Nancy who worked hard to raise her children and keep them fed. One of my aunts was very young when she died but had a few memories of her and said Nancy wore long skirts, was very quiet and rarely spoke. That may have been because she reportedly had very bad teeth and was probably in pain much of the time. Unfortunately, that same aunt was convinced that we were related to Rose Kennedy. I think the truth is more interesting. The first Fitzgerald in my family line that came to this country was an indentured servant around 1685. I'm actually more proud of that than I would be of a princess because he saw an opportunity to improve his life and was willing to work for it. That took real guts to sign away years of your life and get on a creaky wooden boat to sail into the unknown.
 
I sometimes wonder how the Indian princess myth came to be since there was no such person. Maybe early colonists used it to denote the daughter of a chief? I have heard people say that their great grandmother was a Cherokee princess. My great grandmother was Cherokee but she was a poor woman named Nancy who worked hard to raise her children and keep them fed. One of my aunts was very young when she died but had a few memories of her and said Nancy wore long skirts, was very quiet and rarely spoke. That may have been because she reportedly had very bad teeth and was probably in pain much of the time. Unfortunately, that same aunt was convinced that we were related to Rose Kennedy. I think the truth is more interesting. The first Fitzgerald in my family line that came to this country was an indentured servant around 1685. I'm actually more proud of that than I would be of a princess because he saw an opportunity to improve his life and was willing to work for it. That took real guts to sign away years of your life and get on a creaky wooden boat to sail into the unknown.
For many people, having a famous ancestor is an important deal.

In the world of genealogy, someone is always trying to say that this person or that person was a king, queen, or something. Frankly, in my humble opinion, it does not matter. My ancestors were all peasants, and mostly agrarian peasants (farmers). They were the hard workers whose work kept others fed. Some of my ancestors were also some of the first protestants. They were Hussites, followers of Jan Hus, who was a Catholic priest who was burned at the stake because he taught what he read in the bible, that was not in Catholic teachings.
 
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