Cherokee descent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cherokee descent, "being of Cherokee descent", or "being a Cherokee descendant" are all terms for individuals who have some degree of documented Cherokee ancestry but do not meet the criteria for tribal citizenship.[1] The terms are also occasionally used by individuals who self-identify as Cherokee but without either documentation or community recognition.

As Gregory D. Smithers has discussed, a large number of Americans believe they belong in this category: "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."[2] By contrast, as of 2012 there were only 330,716 enrolled Cherokee citizens (Cherokee Nation: 288,749; United Keetoowah Band: 14,300;[3] Eastern Band: 14,667[4]).

Citizenship[]

There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (ECBI) in North Carolina, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB) in Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Nation (CN) in Oklahoma.[5] Enrollment criteria is different for each nation.

  • Eastern Band citizenship requirements are as follows:
"1. A direct lineal ancestor must appear on the 1924 Baker Roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.[6]
"2. You must possess at least 1/16 degree of Eastern Cherokee blood. Please note: Blood quantum is calculated from your ancestor listed on the 1924 Baker Roll."[6]
  • United Keetoowah Band requirements are as follows:
"The UKB has a minimum blood quantum requirement of one quarter (1/4) degree Keetoowah Cherokee blood."[7]
  • Cherokee Nation requirements are as follows:
The applicant must "provide documents that connect you to an enrolled lineal ancestor, who is listed on the 'DAWES ROLL' FINAL ROLLS OF CITIZENS AND FREEDMEN OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES, Cherokee Nation with a blood degree."[8]

Social recognition[]

Kim TallBear (Dakota), author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science,[9] has written extensively that Indigenous identity is not about one distant (and possibly nonexistent) ancestor, but rather political citizenship, culture, kinship, and daily, lived experience as part of an Indigenous community.[10][11]

There are very specific tribal enrollment rules from tribe to tribe, it’s pretty complicated. Those rules sit within a broader idea though, that one needs to have relatively close or lived social relations with other tribal kin that you are claiming. Being able to produce the genealogical documentation to access tribal citizenship is one way of showing that a tribe claims you. They can claim you through official legal means. But you can also have your tribal community claim you through social means that are not official legal means.[11]

Reasons for self-identification without citizenship or social recognition[]

"Self-identification" is when a person claims Indigenous identity or descent with no confirmation or acceptance from the tribe they claim.[12][13] There are a number of reasons people have given for self-identifying as Cherokee or as descendants, despite not meeting enrollment criteria, and without being part of the Cherokee community:

  • Many Cherokee heritage groups, organizations that explore Cherokee history and culture, exist across the US, as well as unrecognized organizations claiming to be tribes,[13] with one estimate putting the combined number as high as 200.[14] Membership in these groups, in some cases, requires genealogical proof of Cherokee ancestry, but many others have no requirements at all.[13]
  • Many non-Indigenous American families have a family oral history of Cherokee ancestry.[15] This has sometimes been called "Cherokee Princess Syndrome", or having a family "Blood Myth."[2][16][17]
  • Laura Browder notes that some light-skinned African American families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries wrote "themselves into Native American identity and out of whiteness or blackness."[18]
  • Geneticist Kim TallBear describes some individuals discovering what they believe to be Native American ancestry through DNA testing, who begin searching for "Cherokee ancestral lines" after this. She notes, however, "There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American."[9] and that this group mostly continues to identify as white.[10]

Issues with descent-based identity claims[]

Cherokee descent individuals do not meet the criteria necessary to claim Native American identity under the provisions of the American Indian Arts and Crafts Act[19]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Circe Sturm, Becoming Indian: The Struggle over Cherokee Identity in the 21st Century. Santa Fe: School for Advanced Research Press, 2011, p. 5
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Why do So Many Americans Think They Have Cherokee Blood?". October 2015.
  3. ^ "Pocket Pictorial". Archived April 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. 2010: 6 and 37. (retrieved June 11, 2010).[failed verification][full citation needed]
  4. ^ EBCI Enrollment Office (10 July 2012). "EBCI Enrollment facts". Cherokee One Feather. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Tribal Directory: Southeast". National Congress of American Indians. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Enrollment".
  7. ^ "Enrollment - United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma".
  8. ^ https://www.cherokee.org/Portals/0/Documents/Registration/Tribal%20Registration%20Packet%20-%20Download.pdf?ver=2017-01-26-102513-520[bare URL]
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Geddes, Linda (5 February 2014). "'There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American'". New Scientist. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b TallBear, Kim (2013). Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science. pp. 132–136.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Gupta, Prachi (16 October 2018). "'Our Vote Matters Very Little': Kim TallBear on Elizabeth Warren's Attempt to Claim Native American Heritage". Jezebel. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  12. ^ Cornsilk, David. "Cherokee by law in response to wannabeism". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 2019-06-14. Retrieved 21 December 2020. Being Cherokee has nothing to do with what an individual thinks of themselves or their own personal claims of heritage and blood. Cherokee law says that you must be recognized by the Cherokees in order to be a Cherokee. There is no other legitimate law that can or does make someone a Cherokee; certainly not the individual claims of lost descendants of long ago Cherokees or their equally non-Cherokee counterparts, the infamous wannabe.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c Crawford, Grant D. (4 October 2019). "'Fake tribes' can threaten federally recognized ones, genealogist says". Talequah Daily Press. Retrieved 29 March 2021. Usually the way those form, there's already existing groups within the state and the state then grandfathers those groups in, requiring no proof whatsoever that they're even of Indian descent - let alone a tribe - and then allows them to grant recognition to other groups," said Cornsilk. "Alabama is probably the most notorious for doing that.
  14. ^ "Going 'Native': Why Are Americans Hijacking Cherokee Identity?".
  15. ^ "The Cherokee Syndrome - Daily Yonder". 10 February 2011.
  16. ^ "Elizabeth Warren and the myth of the Cherokee princess".
  17. ^ R.L. Allen, "Creating Identity at Indian Expense: Public Ignorance, Private Gain." Paper presented at Native Stories and Their Keepers: Telling the Public, Sequoyah Research Center Symposium, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, November 15–17, 2001.
  18. ^ Browder, Laura (2003-06-20). Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators and American Identities. ISBN 9780807860601.
  19. ^ "Buying". US Federal Trade Commission. June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
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