Looking into the myth of the Cherokee Ancestor
One of the things that is happening as a result of DNA testing for genealogy is that many people are discovering the same thing: their family members were telling ta1es about being part Cherokee.
We see this with clients. We read about in message boards for Genealogy and DNA groups in forums and on sites like Facebook.
People are shocked. They feel betrayed. They feel vindicated. They feel as if the results have to be wrong.
But the simple truth is that DNA doesn't lie.
And like the myth of descending from "two Huguenot brothers" (which is part and parcel of our family narrative) landing in north America was popular in the first half of the 20th Century, the Cherokee ancestor myth has always been popular in the south, but gained momentum in both white and black society throughout the 20 Century.
Why? Because including this "myth" of Cherokee blood intermarrying into the family had a great deal to do with how the Cherokee people interacted with people from non native populations. And family "secrets" could be attributed to having native American blood when masking offspring who were the result of whites and blacks who had voluntary, or involuntary, sexual relations.
Slate magazine looks into the myth of Cherokee ancestry, its roots in history and the cultural reasons how and why it took root and spread.
Cherokee blood: Why do so many Americans think they have Cherokee Blood.
That's an interesting observation---that people would claim to have Cherokee "blood" rather than African-American "blood." What a sad and strange country we can be.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same. Until I saw people reacting to the news, then it became evident that old hatreds run deep. Some people really became unhinged when their DNA couldn't explain the physical features that had been attributed to Native American ancestors. Shame, but the truth always comes out, and its always far more interesting than the myth.
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