[Matsane]

I’m definitely a mixture of cultures and ancestry. While I claim all of them and recognize what I inherited from each of them, I feel a stronger pull from some than others. I frequently refer to myself as Cherokelt because I most strongly identify with the Cherokee and Celtic cultures. I can’t even verify on paper that any of my ancestors were Cherokee but yet I have always felt that pull. People in my own family do not understand my interest in my American Indian ancestors and their culture. It’s just part of who I am and always has been. So is my interest in my Celtic ancestors.

My ancestry:

Irish – English – Scot – Welsh – German – French – Dutch – Swedish

Cherokee – Eastern Blackfoot – Wampanoag – Narragansett

Others that are still unknown – possibly Melungeon and/or African American

CoheeLady wrote: If you don’t embrace all of your culture/ancestry you’re disrespecting yourself.

My ancestry:

French Huguenot

Norwegian

Irish

Italian

English

American Indian

[Linda]

Cohee Lady, that’s interesting, I have French Huguenot ancestry, too. For a long time I was told I had Irish, too, but now I realize that was most likely a cover for the NA ancestry. I guess it’s kind of like the Black Dutch thing, a Black Irish cover story.

And come to think of it, I identify more with the French Hugeonots than I do some of the others. I’ve got some blue Austrian blood from the same era, there’s a painting of this ggggrandmother I have a photo of, so she’s the only one I’ve ‘seen’ from that generation, but the stories about the Hugeonots left to starve by the British because the pine trees in their neck of the woods didn’t produce turpentine has more interest to me. But then that just makes sense, given my iconoclastic nature I would relate more to those Hugoetnots. It’s all a matter of conjecture if we are reflecting some hardwiring of our natures passed down through the generations, or if it’s just a coincidental bent that causes us to relate more to one than the other. In either case, it’s worthwhile to honor those we can enthusiastically and genuinely honor.

[Author]

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