Someone's Lying
When one is asked what their ancestry is, most don’t hesitate to rattle off a hodgepodge medley of bloodlines that makes them the mutt they are.
“Italian, German, and a little bit of Irish.”
Perhaps they’re ashamed of the Irish or something.
Tragically, Black people can say Africa, but few can say where. Their answer has the same meaning as a person of French ancestry saying European or a person of Thai ancestry saying Asian. The answer is rootless.
Thanks to genetic advances and companies like Ancestry.com, and 23andme.com, people can trace their ancestry to specific regions. Who can forget the Black woman who learned she had Nigerian blood in her? Turns out, she has Scottish blood, too. As the Daily Press reports, her genetic test taught her a lot about her family history she didn’t know. Through genetic testing, her family from many generations ago can tell their story instead of being silent, faded, and forgotten ghosts.
Elizabeth Warren grew up with her family stories of having a Native American ancestor in her family. Six years ago, those stories came back to haunt her. You can claim any heritage you want…except Native American.
According to Chuck Hoskin, Cherokee Nation secretary of state, being Cherokee or Native American is more than a genetic test or family stories. People who claim to “have Native American” in their family are guilty of cultural misappropriation. They are giving Native Americans a bad name and reputation.
I wonder if Italians feel the same way when people of Italian descent over here call their neighborhoods Little Italy and throw festivals celebrating their heritage. How about the citizens of China? Do they feel slighted every time a person of Chinese descent opens an all-you-can-eat China Buffet on Main Street, USA?
Mr. Hoskin claims the genetic tests can only show genetic markers for Native American heritage, but can’t pinpoint the tribe much less the percentage of Native American blood. Does that make Ancestry.com a liar for airing this commercial or does it make Mr. Hoskin ill-informed on the science of genetics?
Mr. Hoskin wants to keep the Cherokee Nation “pure” to the point that no one other than a certified tribe member can claim Native American ancestry. Such thinking is the very definition of racism. He states that only those who can trace their lineage to the Dawes Rolls are real Cherokee. What he doesn’t tell us is the Dawes Rolls was created out of racist motives. Many Native Americans who should have been enrolled never made the cut for various reasons...mistrust of the federal government being a common one.
The five-dollar Indians, White people with little or no Native American Blood, paid government agents five bucks to get on the rolls. The fraud would benefit them and their generations to come. There are currently certified Cherokee tribe members with less Native American blood than Elizabeth Warren can now prove she has. The racist beliefs of Mr. Hoskin preclude her from claiming her heritage unless she doesn’t mind the continual shaming for making her genetically verifiable claim. Because her ancestors didn’t sign the Dawes Roll over a hundred and twenty years ago, her Native American relatives are relegated to tribeless family stories, stories that should never be uttered out of respect for the tribe, the ancestors who did sign the Dawes Roll, and the five-dollar Indians.
It’s time to dissolve the system of Native American Nations built on racist treaties and driven by capitalist greed. Since first contact with the Europeans five hundred years ago, Native Americans have gotten the short end of the stick. Through a mosaic of questionable treaties, many never honored, Native Americans were given the worst lands, a mirage of national sovereignty, and a mythical badge of nobility mostly designed by early cowboy and Indian shows and later honed and perfected by Hollywood. Despite the illusion we’ve created for them, Native Americans suffer the highest poverty rates, lowest access to quality healthcare rates, and highest premature death rates of any minority group in this country - along the lines of two to three times higher than everyone else.
A couple of hundred years of broken treaties, an illusion of sovereignty, and a fabricated image of nobility hasn’t worked for them. Chiefs governing tribes under a racist rule of thumb will ensure Native Americans remain as far removed from quality healthcare, education, and prosperity as the physical locations of their lands and gaming casinos currently are.
Mr. Hoskin and other Native American chiefs should look to people like Elizabeth Warren and other leaders who share their Native American family stories and demand they stand by their heritage and ancestors – not shun them as Mr. Hoskin has done.
For your viewing pleasure
Posted by A Drunk Redneck
“Italian, German, and a little bit of Irish.”
Perhaps they’re ashamed of the Irish or something.
Tragically, Black people can say Africa, but few can say where. Their answer has the same meaning as a person of French ancestry saying European or a person of Thai ancestry saying Asian. The answer is rootless.
Thanks to genetic advances and companies like Ancestry.com, and 23andme.com, people can trace their ancestry to specific regions. Who can forget the Black woman who learned she had Nigerian blood in her? Turns out, she has Scottish blood, too. As the Daily Press reports, her genetic test taught her a lot about her family history she didn’t know. Through genetic testing, her family from many generations ago can tell their story instead of being silent, faded, and forgotten ghosts.
Elizabeth Warren grew up with her family stories of having a Native American ancestor in her family. Six years ago, those stories came back to haunt her. You can claim any heritage you want…except Native American.
According to Chuck Hoskin, Cherokee Nation secretary of state, being Cherokee or Native American is more than a genetic test or family stories. People who claim to “have Native American” in their family are guilty of cultural misappropriation. They are giving Native Americans a bad name and reputation.
I wonder if Italians feel the same way when people of Italian descent over here call their neighborhoods Little Italy and throw festivals celebrating their heritage. How about the citizens of China? Do they feel slighted every time a person of Chinese descent opens an all-you-can-eat China Buffet on Main Street, USA?
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| Turns out Cherokees (and all Native Americans) are more European than they want to admit. What a small world after all, huh? |
Mr. Hoskin wants to keep the Cherokee Nation “pure” to the point that no one other than a certified tribe member can claim Native American ancestry. Such thinking is the very definition of racism. He states that only those who can trace their lineage to the Dawes Rolls are real Cherokee. What he doesn’t tell us is the Dawes Rolls was created out of racist motives. Many Native Americans who should have been enrolled never made the cut for various reasons...mistrust of the federal government being a common one.
The five-dollar Indians, White people with little or no Native American Blood, paid government agents five bucks to get on the rolls. The fraud would benefit them and their generations to come. There are currently certified Cherokee tribe members with less Native American blood than Elizabeth Warren can now prove she has. The racist beliefs of Mr. Hoskin preclude her from claiming her heritage unless she doesn’t mind the continual shaming for making her genetically verifiable claim. Because her ancestors didn’t sign the Dawes Roll over a hundred and twenty years ago, her Native American relatives are relegated to tribeless family stories, stories that should never be uttered out of respect for the tribe, the ancestors who did sign the Dawes Roll, and the five-dollar Indians.
It’s time to dissolve the system of Native American Nations built on racist treaties and driven by capitalist greed. Since first contact with the Europeans five hundred years ago, Native Americans have gotten the short end of the stick. Through a mosaic of questionable treaties, many never honored, Native Americans were given the worst lands, a mirage of national sovereignty, and a mythical badge of nobility mostly designed by early cowboy and Indian shows and later honed and perfected by Hollywood. Despite the illusion we’ve created for them, Native Americans suffer the highest poverty rates, lowest access to quality healthcare rates, and highest premature death rates of any minority group in this country - along the lines of two to three times higher than everyone else.
A couple of hundred years of broken treaties, an illusion of sovereignty, and a fabricated image of nobility hasn’t worked for them. Chiefs governing tribes under a racist rule of thumb will ensure Native Americans remain as far removed from quality healthcare, education, and prosperity as the physical locations of their lands and gaming casinos currently are.
Mr. Hoskin and other Native American chiefs should look to people like Elizabeth Warren and other leaders who share their Native American family stories and demand they stand by their heritage and ancestors – not shun them as Mr. Hoskin has done.
Posted by A Drunk Redneck
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