***My wifes grand mother, his G/G/Grand mother was Cherokee.***
I believe Bill Clinton was also a Cherokee. You could, at one time, buy an honorary position in the tribe by donating a certain amount of money to a Tahlequah OK Indian group.
At our church, we have blond, blue eyed people with blond facial hair going to college on Indian scholarships. They even have a Tribal issued license plates on their autos.
White folks been here 500 years ~ many marriages have been made ~ the Old Americans (as they were known up to about 100 years ago) didn't check too hard on race, but they did check ownership lest someone come along and claim title to the kids.
Things changed when we got overrun with Europeans.