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i just heard some interesting thinking. I’m not sure who said it, I got it second hand, but it goes like this. During the 19th century, while there were many a war being fought with Indians in the western states, Indians in the eastern states were kind of in the same boat as the Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. They were not trusted and they were resented and they were either herded out of the neighborhood, or lived in fear of being herded away.
But then you had the Cherokee who were commonly understood even by the most ignorant po’ white trash, as friendly, “civilized” Indians. So you said you were Cherokee to convey that you were docile and not a threat. The Iroquois didn’t have to say it, because they also had a rep as being fairly civilized, and because they had enough numbers and enough of their own turf. It was the small tribes that had collapsed and scattered to the four winds that were vulnerable and who adopted this ploy to help them survive.
So, if anybody comes across this thread who’s trying to figure out who their Cherokee grandma was, unless the geography of where she was from is known Cherokee territory, be skeptical, be very skeptical. She probably was not really Cherokee.
Dear Linda,
Did the Cherokee set up their own territory, or did the U.S. Gov. do that for them?
CoheeLady
if what I heard is right — and it might not be — many East Coast tribes fled to the Ozarks, not just Cherokee. But the U.S. government recognized the Cherokee, and many others had been declared “extinct”. That might be one reason mane declared themselvs Cherokee. It is well documented Yuchee, Natchez, Delaware, & Shawnee became Cherokee whe their own numbers were either dwindling to nothing or groups became separated. There are Cherokees today here in Oklahoma who will thell you they are Natchez, or Yuchee, tribes supposedly extinct.
The same was probably true of other tribes, but I never heard of documentation of others, as I have heard of these four. Does anybody else know?
And I wouldn’t call the Cherokees “docile”, Linda. There are some pretty tough hombres who might take exception to that terminology. I guess it’s easy words on the internet, but it wouldn’t be quite as easy a generalization to express to a man, to his face.
vance
Thanks for the information. The point I was trying to make was that the Cherokee that were married into European families weren’t on reservations. Many still stayed put. They were not welcome by anyone. - You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
