Native American relations/ancestors?

Question

So, I live in Chicago but the people from my dads side are from North Carolina and he claims that the people on his side are Native American descendants. Also, my mom tells me alot of stories about her moms folks and how my grandmoms mom was part Native American. What are the characteristics of an Native American and is it possible that I could be one?Plus, what are some great genealogy websites other than ancestory.com?

Answer 1

I once met a blue-eyed man whose father was on the Government rolls to receive compensation; I believe he was Cherokee (the father).  So that means the man I met was part Cherokee; yet he had blue eyes.

I saw a man once near the Museum of the American Indian. He had black hair, brown or black eyes (I think) and his hair was long and made into a single braid.  He wore cowboy boots.  To me he looked like a Native American.  Was he?  Don't know.  Based on the first experience I described above, I could be as wrong about this black-haired man as I would have been about the blue-eyed man, if I had been the first to speak.

In between these two encounters I met a man who identified himself as a Native American and who demonstrated certain dances to an audience.  He wasn't as dark-skinned as the black-haired man I later saw near the museum.  The dances seemed to be Native American dances to me, but maybe they were made up by someone who wanted to be a Native American (a Wannabee).

Now if you think about it, you should realize that there isn't a hard and fast profile to which you can compare someone when trying to determine if they are NA.  There is no litmus test.  To some degree you cannot even trust the person them self!  Professor Ward Churchill claimed to have NA ancestry but this no longer seems to be likely.  Some people who lived most of their lives with NAs were actually English!  They forgot most of their original language & came to be fluent in the NA one.  Would you consider someone like that NA?  They identified strongly with the NA community but may have realized they were English by origin.  It isn't recorded.

If there were characteristics you could look for, they would almost certainly be somewhat different for each century, or half-century.  Are you trying to decide if you yourself might be identifiable as NA?  On your maternal side you indicate that your g-Gm was NA.  On your Dad's side you speak of NA descendants.  For someone to speak in that way, the people who are "descendants" would likely have no more than one grandparent who was actually NA.  But you don't say if your Dad is speaking of his Gm or his g-GM, or an even more remote ancestor.  Suppose it is your Dad's Gm who is a descendant of NAs.  Then she would have been 1/4 NA.  Your Dad would then be 1/16 supposing no other grandparents of his were NA.  On your maternal side your g-Gm may have been NA so your Gm would have been perhaps 1/2.  Your mother would be 1/4.

So you might be, at most, 5/16 NA.  (That's about a third.)

Still you might have blond hair & blue eyes.

Now even if that fraction is close to correct, you have not considered yourself as NA before this information gelled in your brain.  From the viewpoint of most NAs you wouldn't be NA.  But if you began to live according to NA traditions, you might encounter a different opinion.

Are you trying to decide the ethnicity of someone in a photograph? Or is it someone with whom you have spoken?  You would have to look for different cues for different cases.

Your Dad's people were likely Cherokee or Choctaw, ore likely Choctaw.  You don't describe enough about your mother's side for me to hazard a guess.

"Yet another half-baked kerbside nugatory opinion for today!"

Answer 2

not sure about web sites, but what you need to do is look up the names of your family members, call the tribal rep for that area and give them names and dates of birth of family members.  Most tribes are tryin so very hard to find lost families and their family members.  as for characteristics, that's goin to be hard for you, only cuz the blood line has thinned through time.  but in truth, native people very from tribe to tribe.  yeah dark hair and dark eyes is a common trait.  but natives from the NY area sure dont look like natives here in Alaska.  As far as is it possible for you to be native.  sure it can be.  in today's world, there are so many half breeds and those of lesser blood quota.  I meet more and more people everyday that have some sort of native.  sad thing is, they dont know what type, or in fact some just dont care.  its just something to talk about.  something that makes them exotic.

Answer 3

If you were Native American, you would already know it and wouldn't be asking this question. Being Native American isn't just about your "features" or your ancestors or your blood. It's about being raised in your culture, learning your songs, your dances, your stories, your traditions, and the ways of your people. Without that, you can't be Native American.

Secondly, you can't tell whether you have native blood or not just by your features. My best friend has white skin and hazel eyes, and she acts more native american than a lot of the brown-skinned brown-eyed natives I know.

So you might be of native american descent. All that means is that you had a few ancestors who were native. But no, you cannot be Native American.