Cherokee Nation Mourns the Loss of Secretary of State Charles Head

The Cherokee Nation is mourning the loss of Secretary of State Charles Head who was killed Wednesday in a car accident.

Head began working as Secretary of State in January 2012. Prior to that, Head worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for more than a decade and had previously worked for the Cherokee Nation from 1987 to 2000 in roles ranging from executive director of finance to USDA Agriculture liaison.

Head was a Vietnam veteran, serving in the Navy from 1970-1973.

Read more in the press release from the Cherokee Nation. 

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I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Charles Head. His family is in my thoughts and prayers.

*Photo from Cherokee.org.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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Ethnic Fraud Isn't Funny

Originally appeared in the Cherokee Phoenix, July 2012, page 7. 

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For a long time, I have been aware of the misconceptions people have about proving Cherokee ancestry, but these myths got my attention recently when I read an article written by Mike Jones for Tulsa World. In “Massachusetts ‘blood’ tiff no big deal in Oklahoma,” Mr. Jones shared why he believes Elizabeth Warren, US Senate Candidate from Massachusetts, might be Cherokee and why her lack of proof is, in his opinion, not a big deal to residents of Oklahoma.

Mr. Jones believes “Proving Indian heritage is not easy,” because “You have to trace your roots back to the Dawes Rolls.”  He said “there were a lot of Indians in Oklahoma who simply refused to sign.”  Though these are common beliefs, they are not supported by facts. Did Cherokees refuse to enroll? Yes. Were they enrolled anyway? Yes. Does Mr. Jones bother to tell his readers this? No. Does he tell his readers that some Cherokees who tried to avoid allotment were arrested and forced to enroll? No. What he does is apparently try to lead his readers into believing there were many people who refused to enroll, so today their descendants are unable to prove Indian ancestry. This is not true about Cherokee ancestry. There are Cherokee descendants who are not eligible to register with any of the three federally recognized tribes. Some because their blood quantum is too low to meet the minimum required amount and others because they don't have an ancestor on the Dawes or Baker Rolls but they still have ancestors found on other historical Cherokee rolls. We know this. No one disputes this. But Elizabeth Warren is not one of these people.

Why didn't Mr. Jones point out the many other rolls and records of the Cherokee people like the Emigration Roll, Henderson Roll, the Drennen Roll, the Old Settler Roll (two of them), the Guion Miller Roll, the Chapman Roll, the Siler Roll, the Lipe Roll, the censuses of 1869, 1880, 1890 and 1896? Or the muster rolls of Cherokee soldiers from the War of 1812 and the Civil War? Or the Moravian and the Brainerd Mission records? Or the muster rolls from the removal? Or the ration lists from before and after the removal? Or the claims the Cherokees filed against the US in the 1840s? Why didn't he point out the fact that Elizabeth Warren's ancestors are found on none of those rolls or in any of these records?

Ms. Warren claims to be Cherokee through her Crawford line. The genealogy of that family has been traced back 188 years, fourteen years before the forced removal. There is no indication of Cherokee ancestry. The family is listed as white on every record. The family did eventually move into Indian Territory in the late 1800s at the same time many other non-Indian families moved in – shortly before allotment when they hoped to get cheap land from Indians.

Mr. Jones, more than once, tries to say that being born in or being from a family with a history in Oklahoma probably means one has some Indian ancestry. He claims that it is unusual to find an Oklahoma native who doesn’t have Indian ancestry. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are many families who have a long history in Oklahoma, going back years before statehood, but have no Indian ancestry. In truth, these families are very likely non-Indian because the number of intruders, or people illegally squatting on Indian land, exploded during the two decades before statehood. By 1890, there were 128,000 non-Indians living in Indian Territory compared to about 50,000 Indians. By 1907, ninety percent of the population was intruders. 

Though Mr. Jones cites a colleague’s “high cheekbones” as enough proof for him, despite her lack of “paper,” and though he says “the kerfuffle…..over….Warren's alleged Indian heritage seems pretty silly”, I disagree. Dishonesty is not silly. It is a problem. Ms. Warren is a lawyer, a law professor, and should know the burden of proof falls upon the claimant. She knows there is no documentation to support her claim of Cherokee ancestry, yet she continues to insist she is “Native American.” It is unfortunate that Mr. Jones tries to speak for “us way out here in Oklahoma” and says “the Indian brouhaha is laughable.” Apparently he didn’t ask a lot of Cherokees what they thought about Ms. Warren and her false claim, because ethnic fraud isn’t funny to us and we aren’t laughing.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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The Wiki War over Elizabeth Warren's False Claims

Has anyone been following the blog, Legal Insurrection, and the battle taking place on the Wiki page for Elizabeth Warren? It seems some people want to give her the benefit of the doubt on her false claims of Cherokee ancestry because they say, "It is only common sense to realize that ancestry can be difficult and sometimes impossible to prove, especially when it involves proof that one has "Indian or Negro blood" in one's background..." (Gandydancer (talk) 14:04, 10 January 2013 (UTC) )

Really? I mean, really? Apparently they missed this, and this and this and this and this. Warren's ancestry was not difficult to prove. She's white. No document on her family EVER indicates anything else. And, there's more and it ALL has supporting documentation. Perhaps, as Gandydancer points out, I am not a "professional genealogist", but at least I back up what I say with documentation which is more than the new Senator from Massachusetts does!

It seems this same person also missed the work on my own genealogy tracing back to one of my Cherokee ancestors, Sally Hughes, once again, with documentation. That ancestry was also not difficult to prove even though Sally was born over 50 years before the Trail of Tears! It is a myth that Cherokee genealogy cannot be traced and I clearly showed that by tracing back to Sally Hughes.

Also why hasn't anyone on the talk page yet pointed out that Warren has once again dropped this claim of Indian ancestry and won't contact the historians at the Senate Historical Office to share her claim that she is "Native American?" This is significant. During the campaign, Warren repeatedly said "I won’t deny who I am, I won’t deny my heritage..." Apparently what she meant was, "I'll claim this as long as it helps, but the minute it is no longer useful, screw it!"

In my opinion, Warren is a fraud who will do or say whatever it takes to get what she wants. Even if there was this family lore, if she truly believed it and it was such an important part of who she is, she would never have breaks of time in embracing it. She instead, picks and chooses when to use that story and when not to use it. Apparently when trying to get a job, she used it, never thinking it would come out. Once it did, she had no choice but to defend her use of that claim. But now that she has won the election, she thinks it can no longer hurt her to drop it. She knew she wasn't Indian and she has more than enough money to have done the research. She is a user. She used us, the Cherokee, to get what she wanted and now she will use the middle class, if she can ever figure out who they are. 

I think the people on the Wikipedia talk page need to stop making excuses for her and see her for what she really is - a ______ . I know what word I would put there, but I'll let you fill in the blank.


Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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A Cherokee Legend

A Cherokee legend tells of a white snake that devours Indian land and people. Many generations later, a young Indian learns its ways and drives a stake through its heart. In the end only Indian blood will be left, and people will be lining up to try to prove they have Indian blood.

This legend was told by Hastings Shade, who left behind a legacy of stories and traditional Cherokee art when he passed away in 2010. He said, "In the legend, it took 14 generations."

For the Cherokee Nation, that time came a few years ago when it registered a member whose full blood Indian ancestor was 14 generations removed.


Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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Tracing back to Sally Hughes

Now that I have shown the Mhoons have no documentation or evidence to support their claim that they descend from the Cherokee Sally Hughes, I will show the documentation and evidence I have that says I do descend from Sally.

Working backwards, which is the standard way genealogy is done, means I start with myself. Because both my mother and I are living, and because we have proved our ancestry linked back to Dawes in accordance with Cherokee law, I will start with my grandpa, who has passed away, and his parents who were both original Dawes enrollees.

My maternal grandpa was Aaron Carey.

He was the son of Dick Carey and Nancy Fisher. Nancy descended through Sally Hughes so her ancestry is the one I will show.

Per the birth affidavit in Dawes application #5126, Nancy was the daughter of Johnson Fisher and Darkie Tadpole. (Notice the midwife who attended Darkie was Polly Tadpole, her mother.)

In that same application, Darkie's parents are listed as Dave and Polly Tadpole. (Also notice Darkie's  number from the 1880 Census of the Cherokee Nation.)

Darkie died prior to the date of the final roll, therefore was not enrolled, but her husband and daughters were.

Darkie was found on both the 1880 and 1890 Cherokee Nation censuses with her parents.

1880 Cooweescoowee Dist
#2973 David Tadpole, Native Cherokee, 41
#2974 Mollie Tadpole, NCher, 43 (The name difference is settled below.)
#2975 Tiger Tadpole, NCher, 14
#2976 Darkie Tadpole, NCher, 10 (Matches the 1880 number in the above document.)
#2977 Rosie Tadpole, NCher, 8

1890 Cooweescoowee Dist
David Tadpole, NCher, 52
Polly Tadpole, NCher, 54
Darkey Tadpole, NCher, 20
Rose Tadpole, NCher, 18

Polly Tadpole, mother of Darkie, was still living at the time of the Dawes Roll and the Guion Miller Roll. Per Dawes application #2461, where the information was translated from her to the commission by an interpreter since she didn't speak English, her parents were Ave and Betsy Vann. She was also asked if her name was Mollie or Polly. She said Polly. (Also notice her number from the 1880 Census of the Cherokee Nation. It matches the number above.)

Per Eastern Cherokee Application #8972, Polly Tadpole said her parents were Ave Vann and Betsy Vann nee Scott. She did not know the names of her paternal grandparents.

Per the card at the front of the Eastern Cherokee application for Polly, a notation was made that she was admitted and that she was enrolled in 1851, Tahl #569 as Oo-te-ee Vann.

That means we can look at the 1851 Drennen Roll and find her listed with her family. (Notice the name David Vann on the second page has the number 2183 beside it!)

The number 2183 references an Eastern Cherokee application for Polly Tadpole's brother, David Vann, so I checked his application to see if he listed his paternal grandparents. He said his paternal grandfather was Claw-see Vann.

Also, this page from David Vann's Eastern Cherokee application makes reference to his being listed on the Drennen Roll, Tahl #569, and claiming through Ave Vann on both the 1851 Drennen Roll and the 1835 Roll.

George Pumpkin/Pumpkinpile was still alive at the time of the Guion Miller Roll and filed an Eastern Cherokee application. Because he married into another line of my family, I had already done extensive research on him, and knew he listed his maternal grandfather's Cherokee name as "Claw-sene" and English name as James Vann. I checked his application #2804 to to see if he connected with Polly Tadpole and David Vann who filed the applications above. Notice on the second page, George listed Ave Vann as one of the children of his grandparents, thus, his uncle. He was a first cousin to Polly and David.

Now that I have verified the names of Polly Vann Tadpole's, father, Ave Vann, and his father, James "Claw-see" or "Claw-sene" Vann, I can look for them in 1835.

From the Cherokee Census of 1835, transcribed by James W. Tyner, better known as "Those Who Cried, the 16,000", I find Ave Vann listed as Dave Vann living on the Oostenolee River. (Make note of "No farm. One farmer.")

Dave Vann Two fullbloods and one quarterblood. No farm. One farmer. One weaver and one spinner.

He is living next to his father-in-law, Dick Scott, and near Alexander Brown, John Ridge, Watie, Major Ridge and Charley Moore. (It is important to know these men lived near this Ave Vann later.)

From the Cherokee Census of 1835, transcribed by the Trail of Tears Association, Ave Vann is living at Floyd County, Amuchy Creek, Oostenalla River. (Make note of "No farms or acreage in cultivation." and "1 farmer over 18 years.")

Ave Vann - 1 male under 18 years, 1 male over 18 years, 0 females under 16 years, 1 female over 16 years, total Cherokee 3. No slaves. No whites connected by marriage. No farms or acreage in cultivation, 3 houses. 1 farmer over 18 years. 0 Halfbloods, 1 Quadroon, 2 Full bloods. 1 weaver and 1 spinner.

He is living next to his father-in-law, Dick Scott, and near the same men listed above.

My James or Claw-sene Vann is not found in 1835 so it would make one wonder if he died before then.

Looking for claims filed by Ave Vann led me to:

Record Group 75 - Records of the BIA
Entry 236 - Miscellaneous Claims Papers of the 1st Board of Cherokee Commissioners
Folder of Ave Van

Ave Vann filed a claim, February 1, 1837, for two small fields that were included in Sally Hughes' valuation; one field about 6 acres and the other 4 acres.

The claim included testimony by Charles Moore where he said Ave Vann was the son of James Vann, who was the son of Sally Hughes.

The statement of Cherokee Charles Moore in reference to the above - Says that the father of Ave Vann owned a small field of about six acres which he cultivated three years - and when his mother, Sally Hughes, she occupied it, and it is said has been valued to her. The father of Ave Vann's name was James Vann, son of Sally Hughes. [emphasis mine] Moore further says that Ave had a-bout four acres of land that he cleaned himself and cultivated - He frequently saw him at work - that also he understands has been valued to Sally Hughes as part of her improvements.
Sworn to  & subscribed                         Charles (his mark) Moore
before me 1 Feb. 1837
Jno Ridge (illegible)

There is additional testimony from Elijah Moore that said Ave Vann was the grandson of Sally Hughes and the son of James Vann.

I hereby certify that the Ave Vann claimed two small fields that were considered as part of the improv-ments of Sally Hughes. Ave Vann is the grandson of Sally Hughes, [emphasis mine] I was residing with her when he cleaned one of the fields - The other belonged to his father James Vann. [emphasis mine]                             
Sworn to & subscribed          
before me this 1st Feb. 1837.      Elijah Moore
Jno Ridge (illegible)

Do you see it coming together? It was that easy to connect myself, with supporting documentation, to my great great great great great great Cherokee grandmother, Sally Hughes. Did you get that? She is my 6th great grandmother. She is Cherokee. There are records.

My line is as follows:

Me 
My mom, daughter of 
Aaron Carey, son of 
Nancy Fisher, daughter of 
Darkie Tadpole, daughter of 
Polly Vann, daughter of 
Ave Vann, son of 
James Vann, son of 
Sally Hughes

And people say it is hard to prove Cherokee ancestry. Ha! Not true. Despite the fact most of these people didn't speak English; despite the fact these people were Indians; despite the fact Darkie Tadpole died young; despite the fact Polly Tadpole did not know the names of her paternal grandparents; despite the fact James "Claw-sene" Vann was not found in 1835; and despite the fact Sally Hughes was born about 1777-1780, over 57 years before the Trail of Tears, we can still trace this line WITH supporting documentation. And guess what? There's more!

Stay tuned for the next installment in this series about Sally Hughes!

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

**Unless otherwise stated, all documents were obtained from Fold3.com.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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10 Things I Learned in 2012

1.  The mainstream media will ignore or twist the truth.

The team and I know Cherokee records. The team and I know how to do genealogy. We spent thousands of hours researching the claim of American Indian ancestry made by Elizabeth Warren. There is absolutely NOTHING to suggest she actually has Indian ancestry. Sadly, rather than focusing on the facts, the mainstream media made excuses for her, covered up the facts for her or ignored her false claim altogether. 

2.  People will question your motives if you tell the truth.

Elizabeth Warren obviously didn't like the fact that someone could disprove her claims. When I traveled to MA along with other Cherokee women, we weren't even referred to as Cherokees by Warren and her campaign. We were portrayed as being in cahoots with the Scott Brown campaign even though that was not true. 

"The out-of-state group in question is being promoted and supported by a right-wing extremist who is on the record supporting and contributing money to Scott Brown,” Warren spokeswoman Alethea Harney told The Boston Herald in an article published on June 20. “It is past time we moved on to the important issues facing middle-class families in Massachusetts — even if Scott Brown won’t."

The women who went to Boston are either registered Democrats or independent voters who tend to vote Democratic. The reason we spoke out against Warren's false claim had nothing to do with Scott Brown, but instead was because we are Cherokee first and care about truth in our history and genealogy.

3.  Massachusetts loves its politics.

It doesn't matter if they are Democrats or Republicans. The people in Massachusetts love their politics and because of that, things can get nasty in some of their political races. It was a little overwhelming to be blindsided by it and then finding oneself in the middle of the political frenzy that took place during the last year. Despite that, while in Boston, the other Cherokee ladies and I were, for the most part, treated with consideration and respect, even though some people we encountered did not like our reason for being there. 

4.  My mom was right.

Growing up, my mom warned me that there are mean people in the world. This year, I learned just how true that was. While many of the "attacks" against my character were simply done by those taking political sides, some were by individuals who crossed the line into personal attacks on me and my family. My mom taught me not to hate people who do things like that, but to instead feel sorry for them because obviously, their lives are so unhappy, they can't feel good unless they are trying to destroy the happiness of someone else. 

5.  Some people don't care about the truth.

Before this year, I always believed that if you gave people a chance to do the right thing, they would. The majority of the voters in Massachusetts showed me that isn't true. Not only did they elect a proven liar, that liar had every chance to look at the documents that showed the truth and take ownership of her misrepresentation of Cherokee citizenship and history. Not only did she refuse to do that, she completely marginalized ALL American Indians. The voters didn't care about the truth and one candidate didn't care about the truth. I think that is sad.

6.  Racism against Indians is alive and well.

The race for the Senate in Massachusetts clearly showed this. From the various names and terms used in the media (Fauxcahontas, Lieawatha, etc...) to the "high cheekbone" remark to the "tomahawk chop" incident to the fact that people thought it was okay for Elizabeth Warren to refuse to speak to ANY American Indian showed that racism against American Indians is still alive and accepted by a lot of people.

7.  Genealogy matters for many different reasons.

Most think genealogy is only important to those people who want to learn about their family history, but if a political candidate, in the past, claimed minority status in order to benefit from affirmative action, their genealogy can become of interest to many. Though I knew about fake Cherokees and how their behavior and false claims allow insight into their character, it never occurred to me that wannabeism would be so far reaching that it would also reveal the character of a United States Senator-elect.

8.  Democrats come before Cherokees to the Cherokee Chief.

In May, Elizabeth Warren said her grandpa had "high cheekbones like all the Indians do." A few weeks later, the group, "Cherokees Demand Truth from Elizabeth Warren" was born. In June, the chief's advisor (at the time) privately said we needed to drop our protest against Elizabeth Warren because "they" wanted her to win. Throughout the summer, Warren made statements that are anti-sovereignty and refused to speak to any American Indian, whether it was the group of Cherokee women; the Native Democratic Delegates; or a Native journalist. The entire time, Democratic National Delegate, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief, Bill John Baker, remained silent. 

Late in September, the campaign staff of Scott Brown made fun of his challenger, Elizabeth Warren, and her false claims of Cherokee ancestry by doing the tomahawk chop to her supporters who had shown up at a Scott Brown campaign stop. Chief Baker suddenly became "offended" and made the following statement, “The use of stereotypical ‘war whoop chants’ and ‘tomahawk chops’ are offensive and downright racist. It is those types of actions that perpetuate negative stereotypes and continue to minimize and degrade all native peoples.” Why wasn't he equally offended by a white woman claiming to be Cherokee for professional gain?

Remember, we involved in protesting Warren had already been told "they" wanted her to win. Remember, Chief Baker never said a word when Warren was doing and saying offensive things, including making statements that undermine our sovereignty. Notice, Chief Baker ONLY made a public statement in this matter when he could say something to help a fellow Democrat. Isn't it sad that many other Cherokees could put aside their own political leanings in this because they think "Cherokee first", but our own chief couldn't do the same? 

9.  People still try to lump all Indians together.

During this Elizabeth Warren fiasco, many people made comments, released statements or wrote op-eds that said American Indian ancestry is difficult to prove due to there being no records. While that might be true for some Indian Nations or tribes, it is not true for the Cherokees. We came into contact with whites at a much earlier date than many other tribes. We had a written language. We have many records dating back to the 1700s and earlier. We can trace our genealogy and the team and I have clearly shown that, but people still want to believe the myths that circulate about Cherokee history and they continue to claim "Indians" don't have any records.

10. Some people do listen.

Though sometimes, it feels like I type till my fingers hurt and I talk till I lose my voice when trying to share the truth, only to have no one pay any attention, in 2012, I learned some people do listen and some people do accept the truth. A group of people on Twitter stopped using the terms "Fauxcahontas," "Lieawatha," and such because they realized it was offensive. Others learned the truth about Cherokee citizenship and why it matters. Others realized they really weren't Cherokee, after years of believing they were, and accepted that.

As you can see, 2012 taught me a lot of lessons. I always welcome a chance to learn new things and last year did not let me down. My only hope is that I was able to teach others as much as I was able to learn.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2013, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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