Thoughts from Polly's Granddaughter: A Final Rejection and the Emergence of a Fake Tribe

In the last post, False Heirs: The Gardner Green Estate, the claim to a fortune made by the Green family of Boone County, Missouri was discussed. This Green family claimed they were the descendants of a Cherokee man named Gardner Green and that the United States was holding a fortune of his to be paid out to them if they could prove their claim. Instead of probating the claim, as anyone who was claiming heirship to a fortune would, the Green family filed Eastern Cherokee applications, the applications required for those who made claim to a share of the money the U.S. Court of Claims awarded the Cherokees (or their heirs) who remained in the eastern homelands until after the Treaty of New Echota. Those Cherokees were considered parties to that treaty and therefore entitled to a share of the funds. No single Cherokee was entitled to all the money and no single Cherokee family was entitled to it all despite the story repeatedly told by the Green family.

The Green family filed 241 Eastern Cherokee applications for 552 claims (children were paid a share if approved but were listed on their parents' applications.) ALL were rejected.

The Eastern Cherokee applications filed that claimed descent from "Gardner Green" are below. The two final claimants appear to have no connection to the Green family from Missouri. That indicates people were finding a name on the 1835 Cherokee Roll and claiming on it whether they were truly related to that person or not. After all, if the claims on Gardner Green were authentic claims, the family lineages should have matched. They didn't.

Remember, ALL the applications filed by the Green family were rejected. Guion Miller, the commissioner appointed by the United States to oversee the roll and payments, wrote an extensive report on why the applications were rejected. First, the testimony given by numerous claimants conflicted with testimony given by other claimants. Second, the Greens claimed Gardner Green, their ancestor, was very old. He would have had great grandchildren born before the Treaty of New Echota and none of his purported children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren had ever lived in the Cherokee domain. Third, Guion Miller did not believe the Gardner Green claimed by the Green family was the same Gardner Green found on the 1835 based on the family description, though he admitted it was only supposition that he believed the male listed as under 18 was the child of Gardner Green.

The full report of Guion Miller is below:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Though Guion Miller had limited resources at the time he made his decision on the family's claim, today we have numerous documents available and can confirm this family was correctly rejected. The man listed as Gardner Green on the 1835 was Young Wolf, son of Mouse. He could not have been the progenitor of the Green family from Boone County, Missouri.

After multiple rejections, by both the Cherokee Nation officials and the agents of the U.S. government, the false claim by the Green family should have come to an end. Unfortunately, it didn't.

Today, approximately 110 years after being rejected by Guion Miller, the Green family descendants still claim to be Cherokee. They, along with others, created a fraudulent tribe that has splintered into additional fraudulent tribes. While the idea of fake tribes may sound funny, it isn't. Recently, one of the Green family "tribes" has caused a tremendous amount of harm.

They have threatened to destroy Rocky Miller, a Missouri state legislator and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, for sponsoring a law to protect the consumers of Missouri from being tricked into purchasing fake Indian art. They have launched an online smear campaign against the Missouri Archaeological Society, Inc. for cancelling the speaking engagement of one of their members when the Society learned that person was not legitimately Cherokee. They have used their fake tribal cards to apply for and receive government contracts intended for minorities. Most recently, their group members threatened an Eastern Band Cherokee when he asked to speak at their event to explain that what was being presented as Cherokee culture was, in fact, not authentic Cherokee culture.

This farce must end!

It will end.

My next few posts will show the emergence of a fake tribe, through documents and other sources, while also sharing the accurate history of this fake tribe, the non-profit group that calls itself the "Northern Cherokee Nation", headquartered in Clinton, Missouri. You don't want to miss this. Please stay tuned for more on this story, the legacy of Young Wolf, and what we can learn from it all.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.