Document links Warren to Cherokees (11th hour paperwork?)

Masslive.com ^ | May 1, 2012 | AP

[libertarian27]

BOSTON (AP)

[Vigilanteman]

Chances are better than 50-50 that anyone who can trace their ancestry back to frontier America will have at least some Native American heritage.

A few reasons for this are:

1. Shortage of women among white frontier populations versus a surplus among Native frontier populations. The former was due to the fact that white men were the first to push westward in search of land or wealth to be mined. The Native American population either lost men resisting this expansion or offered surplus females as marriage partners in an attempt to gain gain alliances or trading partners. Much as both major parties now try to outdo each other in slobbering over the Hispanic voters.
   
2. Relative isolation and small pool of available marriage partners, or the same reason you will find virtually everyone related in isolated communities ranging from West Virginia mining towns to Rocky Mountain ranch towns. This was perfectly normal until the advent of the automobile and its widespread use, starting in the 1950's-- a relatively recent period of American History.
   
3. Cherokee heritage, in particular, is the most common of Native American heritage. As the major one of the five civilized tribes, Cherokee were clever adapters at producing a written language which became the norm for the tribe in a single generation, using the U.S. court system to resist expulsion, retreating to the hills of the Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky when that failed, then ultimately to Oklahoma.
   
4. All five of the so-called civilized tribes (the other four being the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole) backed the south in our Civil War and, as a result, had to adapt quickly to survive. One of the quickest ways was intermarriage with the white and black populations in the southeast. The hit network series Who Do You Think You Are pretty much verifies that some Native American DNA is widespread in the bloodlines of almost everyone who can trace their ancestry to the frontier era for the aforementioned reasons. In fact, absence is more the exception than the rule.

[KarlInOhio]

But if it was part of "family lore" rather than a known and named relative, then the injustice had disappeared into history rather than being something still weighing down on Warren. She should be ashamed of profiting from her ancestors' suffering for claiming that 1/32 relation should help her get a job at Harvard.

[The Great RJ]

Sure..so do lots of people. My wife’s g-grandmother was we think Iroquois or part Iroquois and a DNA ancestry test confirmed that there were Native American markers in the family DNA. However, that is a long way being an enrolled member of a recognized Indian tribe, being raised in tribal traditions or even having a family memory of tribal customs or traditions. Gee maybe my wife should portray herself as Native American and share in the profits of tribal casinos, get minority scholarships and maybe even a college professorship position teaching Native American Studies.

[Maceman]

This reminds me of the Family Guy episode where Peter tries to convince the Indian casino owners that he is a member of their tribe, in order to get a cut of the casino profits.

Peter Griffin invokes his Indian heritage.

[bgill]

Everything counts or you wouldn’t be here.

[dfwgator]

So now is she going to come out singing, “CHEROKEE PEOPLE....CHEROKEE TRIBE....”

[ConservativeDude]

A genealogist”

Mormons are into geneaology.

plus this is Massachusetts.

I knew it! Romney is helping Elizabeth Warren!

[oldsicilian]

Where are they???

[Vigilanteman]

Basically correct. See my post #21.

Pre-1960's, intermarriage and assimilation was seen as a necessity to ensure tribal survival.

Post-1960's, rules on minimum blood (usually at least one grandparent) were generally imposed in order to limit tribal membership and ensure greater distribution of "stuff" to those on the team. Smaller teams = more goodies to distribute. Some tribal lines can be combined to claim membership such as the Mandan and Arikara in North Dakota. Most cannot. Thus, if you are 1/8th Cherokee and 1/8th Sioux, your combined 1/4th doesn't count for either tribe.

[Poser]

I’m 100% native American. Honest. I was born in upstate New York!

[ConservativeDude]

It’s up to the US Government”

Isn’t it also up to the Tribe? At least to a certain extent? I know plenty of people who have joined later in life and they go to the tribe and present their case, usually in the form of documentation. I sort of thought the Tribe had the last word (of course, their discretion might be defined by the US).

Interesting body of law, for sure.

In any event, I am pretty sure that Warren has not been very involved in Cherokee activities. I doubt if she has ever even set foot in Oklahoma.

[muawiyah]

I've known several people become enrolled members of one of the three Cherokee bands on the basis that their grandmother was an enrolled member ~ so that'd be the 1/4 blood quantum.

15% of the people in Oklahoma claim Indian ancestry/affiliation in the census. That's a lot more than claim membership.

I've never met a reservation Indian who would go back. They're just like everybody else once they get out of that sort of environment.

[muawiyah]

Injustices don't just disappear ~ even if you don't know about them some aspect of your current circumstances depends on them having happened.

Br'r(ess) Warren is a hard core member of the 1%, has a doctorate, works at Harvard, etc., etc. If she'd been a Shinancock Indian she'd had to raise ducks for a living and shovel day old bread out of the back of a pickup truck all the time.

See the difference?

[muawiyah]

ALL the oldest colonial families have an Indian ancestor ~ the biggest problem in tracking down that ancestor (or a dozen or two) has been folks who've gone into source documents and simply destroyed that information feeling that it was disadvantageous to have an Indian ancestor.

During the 1500s Spain established a substantial infrastructure along the Mississippi, the Ohio, the St. Joseph and the Great miami Rivers ~ today almost all of that history is nothing but a jotting in an old family Bible, or a tracing on the ground, or maybe a boundry marker with words.

People are putting it together on the internet in a hundred communities where it is meaningful.

Eventually we'll be opening up the deerhides at Fonda NY and finding out what they say.

[EDINVA]

There are “genealogists” who can show any paying client to be descended from whomever they want. If I wanted to be a descendant of Mary Queen of Scots, voila, *some* genealogist would draw that line. This particular genealogist’s bona fides bear a look.

[Paladin2]

"Everything counts or you wouldn’t be here."

Yep, EVERY ONE of your ancestors (all the way back) lived long enough to reproduce. What are the odds against that?

[hoosiermama]

My son is related to you. His grandmother was a Boling, direct decendant. He’s known as CUZ to many in Rev Peyton’s Big Damn Band. Guess he really is your cuz!

[muawiyah]

The reference I provided says it's ALL up to the US government since only the federal government can recognize foreign and/or Indian nations.

Whatever rules the Indians have does not in any way change the way the US government looks at that tribe when it comes to "recognition". They could say (as one band of Cherokee have done) black people can't be Cherokee. The US government set the standard that the black slaves the Cherokee took with them to Oklahoma were also Cherokee. The issue is "recognition" not DNA ~ and then DNA (to a small degree since adoption can fix those deficiencies), and then having an ancestor on the rolls (if there are rolls) ~ with some of the rolls actually being US government rolls!

The Oneida and Canandagua Indians found their lands sold off by the State of New York when the state said 'Hey, white people can't be Indians, and all the Oneida are white people, so they must move off their lands".

The Oneida had long been in the habit of bringing in Europeans to teach and do skilled trades and teach advanced farming techniques ~ and make guns ~ lots of guns ~ so many your eyes would spin in their sockets.

During the British colonial period the Brits didn't interfere with Oneida business. During the Revolution the Oneida were American allies. After the Revolution the Oneida encountered the state of New York which didn't recognize US government treaties.

Complex business all around.

[massgopguy]

In my neighborhood, having an ancestor at Bunker Hill is nice. But my great grandmother and Dom De Luise’s great grandmother being sisters.... now THAT gets you into the Bocce Club.

[blueunicorn6]

My ancestors had to shovel shit.....and they didn’t have a pickup. Where’s my money?