ARE YOU A UNDOCUMENTED, DISENFRANCHISED CHEROKEE?
It has long be prophesied by our ancestors (“The Return of the Buffalo”), that the new century would bring forth many people of Cherokee blood that want to rejoin the heritage that had been hidden from them. Hidden from them because of the fear left from the 1800's when our people were persecuted by the white man. These people coming forth now, maybe with just a drop of Cherokee blood, have been given the spark by the Creator to return to the white path, to learn of their ancestors, of our old ways, and some may want to help in bringing back our history, customs, ceremonies, stories and languages or even to recognize and practice those old ways.
However, heart warming and proud as we may feel about those of you who are on this path, there are still others who reject you. People who have appointed themselves above everyone one else and say they are the Cherokee “Experts,” and say that they are the real recognized Indians and that you are not. You are considered and called a “Wannbe,” or a “Twinkie.” These people who claim they have the knowledge concerning our past are the ones who are quick to point the finger at others and accuse them as being fraud. If our old traditions were the knowledge they really hold, then they would know that to judge and call down another, or even having bad thoughts against another is against our old way teachings. It is wrongful and is also known as bad witchcraft to talk against another and to put them below yourself. When it comes to your being a Cherokee or not, It does not matter how much Cherokee blood you have, it is that you DO have even a drop and that you wish to live your life as Cherokee. This is the old way!
Why then do these “Experts” degrade those of less blood or those who cannot prove their heritage. It simply comes down to selfish greed and desire for money. Money from the same government that tried to exterminate and genocide our people hundreds of years ago. Some of our cousins think that you are trying to steal their money or government benefits away from them. So, in un- warranted defense, they strike back and call you a fraud. This is a mid-set that has been instilled in our people over hundreds of years by this same government who tried to destroy us. They wanted to illuminate us altogether, and to assimilate us into another race. That did not work, but they did create a mixed race which has caused a separation between us that may never allow us to come back, or at least cause it hard to re-unite. But these Cherokee people coming back to the way are strong, and they won’t give up. All they want is to be accepted, recognized by their own and not by a government. They want to assist in gaining the benefits for our cousins, not to steal those benefits. Most could care less if they are recognized by the U.S. Government, or by a State organized unit, or to be a member of one of the recognized tribes, no...they just want to be accepted for who they are.
All Cherokee, despite how much blood we have, know that we are all related, and to gain anything for our people we must unify, not continue to divide. Call the Cherokee people wanting to return to the white path, “Returning Cherokee,” “Disenfranchised Cherokee,” or “Un-recognized Cherokees,” but do not call them “Wannabes’” or “frauds.” Do not look down on them or talk about them behind their backs. Don’t sneer, giggle or laugh at them. Do not refuse to talk to them if they speak to you. Give these Cherokee people the same respect they are offering to you.
These Cherokee People coming back to the ways of their heritage will not let anyone deny them from being who they are, they should not apologize to anyone on the quantum of their blood, or the color of their skin, hair or eyes and let no one deny them that pride and privilege of being a Cherokee. “The Creator gave no man the power to say who any other man can or cannot be”. It should also be recognized that these undocumented Cherokee may also be the descendants of the Cherokee people who fought against the white man, the Cherokee people who refused to be placed in reservations. The Cherokee people who hid out in the hills from the white man and kept themselves “free.” These Cherokee felt that they had held to their belief of freedom and did not give in or sell out to the white mans government. These were the Cherokee who felt that they were the true Cherokee, the true warriors for our freedom. These people went through a lot to keep hidden from the white man and to be safe from removal. They had to change their names and take on the names of non Indians. They kept no records so that they could not be traced. All family history was by word of mouth. Soon, not even verbal history was spoken under fear of imprisonment. So are ancestors had to hide their pride. It became so bad that soon no one spoke of their heritage and unfortunately, some younger family members were not told of their heritage just so they would be kept safe. Our ancestors gave up a lot just to be free.
During and after the removal of the people, times became very hard. So the government devised yet another way to assist in the extermination of the Indians. The government offered those Indian people their own plots of land and also gave them up to $5000.00 in cash so that they could live and farm their own lands. They even offered them slaves. But this was not without a catch. To do this the government required these families to denounce their Indian heritage and to never speak of it again. The government wanted these Indians to live as whites and because times were so hard for these people, many accepted.
In any of the cases mentioned, they would have never thought that one day we would return to our heritage and find that we couldn’t trace our families because of the secrets. Today, because of that, some of their descendants cannot find a history of their family. Cannot prove, by the white man’s government standards, that they are Cherokee. Our ancestors never thought that we’d have to prove to anyone who we were. Does anyone have the right to put these people down because their ancestors were the warriors who fought against being a prisoner of the white man? No! Actually it should be quite the opposite.
We are our own worst enemies. As long as we continue to separate ourselves, and not acknowledge our other Cherokee people, we will never be united. Until we are united we have not become ONE people and we will continue to lose the strength that we should have as one people. Until this can happen, we will never fulfill what the Creator has taught us. Standup, be proud of who you are. Tell everyone that you are a Cherokee Indian and damn proud to be. Make sure you fill out job applications stating who you are a Native American. Join a disenfranchised Cherokee band or organization in your state. Make a promise to learn the Cherokee traditions, stories and the language and each day, choose a time to practice telling these stories or speaking our language. It is up to us to keep our heritage alive, as one or as a whole, a family, a people. The Cherokees have a very rich part of Americas history which continues today, show your pride in that history. Make your ancestors proud to know you are proud to be their relations. Do not allow anyone to take away your birthright. Stand up and be proud of who you are...you will not stand alone!
CHIEF SMITH ACKNOWLEDGES UNDOCUMENTED CHEROKEE DO EXIST.
In a official news release dated September 22nd., 2000, Principal Chief Chad Smith of the Western Cherokee Nation publicly acknowledged the existence of undocumented Cherokees, but in the same breath, denied their rights to recognition. Appearing in the Cherokee Nation’s web site in September, 2000, Chief Smith stated, “There are people with undeniable Cherokee heritage who don’t meet enrollment requirements. That doesn’t mean they can’t claim their ancestry.” “Through anomalies caused by ethnicidal policies of the United States Government, the traditional Cherokee Nation has been fragmented.” said Chief Smith, “That’s why there is an Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina. We are all one people separated by geography. The historical Cherokee Nation is currently headquartered in Tahlequah (OK). But just as a person with grandparents who migrated to the United States from Germany cannot claim German citizenship, people whose Cherokee ancestors emigrated from the Cherokee Nation before the Dawes Rolls were taken cannot claim Cherokee citizenship.
In this news release, one must certainly assume that Chief Smith, who has spoken against un-documented Cherokees in the past, may be accepting them. In the 2000 news release it appears he is offering an open hand to those who simply want to be recognized as who they are, without receiving anything in return, except respect and friendship. So in response we should except this welcome, and if it is false, then it will be between him and the Creator.
http://www.skyenet.net/~myersdk/undoc.html
4 comments:
It is good you understand the truth! The truth takes few words. Lies take many. You covered allot of ground. In a few paragraphs. The Spirits of the Old Ones are proud of one that speaks in this way. I am thankful there are those who have a fighting spirit that arises from divisiveness.
The White Path is waiting.
I cried when I read this. This is my story, unable to prove my descendency on paper, and I know I have three Cherokee ancestors.
Two on my mothers side, and one on my fathers. Everytime I have tried to communicate with other native websites, I notice REAL QUICK how much they dislike the 'wannabee's' and 'mestizo's'(which to me is a mix between Native American and European), and I've even been called a mutt.
My family is rich in oral tradition, from Western North Carolina, and all of them were mountain people. Most still are.
On my fathers side, my ggggrandmother was a Cherokee woman born about 1837, and she married my ggggrandfather, a white man, after the death of her first husband in the Civil War. She had a son by the first marriage, who MY ggggrandfather ended up killing with an ax. A full-blood, he was only 15. They had already had other children, one of whom was my gggrandfather, who was said to have been 'more like his mother than his father'--thank heavens.
No doubt, she wasnt treated very well, and had done what she had to do in order to stay free, and that was just the way it was in those times, unfortunately.
She was a healer and traveled many miles on foot between Haywood County N.C and Painttown, Cherokee N.C to help people who were sick or giving birth--whatever the need be. She lived was still alive in the 1930's( my great-uncle Quet remembered her as a young boy) so she lived over 100 years!!
To 'prove it' to myself, I did an Autosomal DNA test and it shows mother and fathers descendency through me. I am proud to be 1/18th Cherokee, and I am speaking for them today: "We're still alive, and we survived!!"
They had to lie on the U.S. census's, but the blood dont lie.
Thank you for what you're doing.
I dont want a thing from the Cherokee except to be repected for the ancestors I represent today---even in 2009!
I do not care if i am accepted by the rulers of the cherokee. They cannot make or stop the blood that runs through my veins. I appreciate all who post blogs like this so that I can learn and pass on these things to my children. I am lone wolf. Know that I speak to my Father on your behalf. A people are known by their ways. As long as the ways exist the people exist.
I very much enjoyed reading the material concerning 'disenfranchized' Cherokees. Although I have white skin, hazel green eyes and brown hair, I am aware I am blood-linked to White Feather of The Wolf Clan of the Cherokee Peoples who survived the Trail of Tears and ended up in the Ashley-Hudson area of Indiana. In fact, my mother, gave me pictures of her, her assimilated white name, husband and geneoljy records that are actually traceable. I don't care if American Indians of 'full blood' accept me for native American or not. That's just the way it is. My Mom was always guarded but proud of her Cherokee connection to our Cherokee Great Grandmother White Feather, later know as Mrs. George Washington Clark. My Mother is a Christ-follower and is now living in Heaven, God bless her for being boldly honest about her (my) bloodline to Native Americans. Thank you & may God bless you."KnuckleHead" Jon
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