Why do people lie about being part native american?

Question

or part italian when their white as me and their last name is something like smith or anderson

Answer 1

Well if someone who is half is given the white (or other) parent's surname...does that make the half dissapear?

Answer 2

I honestly do not know. Im from Honduras and we have huge native population and I know for a fact that I am NOT part indian. Try telling that to every other black girl at my elementary school. They use to swear up and down they were part native. Its funny now but I still know some girls who claim native blood because there hair is long and curly.

Answer 3

As a Native American, I have always been faced with people who claimg to be "part Cherokee", usually dating back to their "grandmother". I remember I read once that if everyone who claimed they had a cherokee grandmother actually did, there had to have been a tribe of strictly cherokee women at one time for it to  be true.

I think the reason people claim this ancestry without actually having it is that there is a level of mystery and the exotic to being Native American. Since we tend to be somewhat secretive and don't openly talk about certain religious practices or beliefs, a lot is widely unknown about our culture and customs. Those of European descent don't usually (from my experience) consider themselves to have a "culture", and there is a fascination with one that is considered to be private, rooted in centuries-old traditions, with a connection to the earth that European culture has lost.

Also, it helps that the Native community engages in a lot of interracial relationships and marriages, and so Natives can look like just about anyone. So who's to say that person isn't (whether they are or not)?

Answer 4

well Italians have a nice olive skin tone......me nor any white person I know has that but Hispanics and...well Italians and mixed race people sometimes.

Tot the poster above since my friend who is black had a great great Italian grandfather she is white? Confused. But Italians...they don't look white...very exotic looking people.