Sometimes We Just Can't Have What We Want

Recently I was contacted by someone who asked for help with her genealogy. She said she knew she was Cherokee and she just needed help with one woman in her tree because she couldn't get past her in the ancestry. She sent me a lot of information from the "genealogy" she had already done and wanted me to build from there. Uh, sorry, but that isn't the way I roll. First, I have to make sure everything is correct from the starting point.

It became apparent pretty quickly that the person had not done any genealogy work at all. What she had done was take the name of one of her ancestors and then go to the Cherokee rolls and try to find the same surname. Then, she tried to find a way to connect her ancestors to the Cherokees with the same surname. She then started to try to rewrite the history of the real Cherokee family in order to make it fit the history of her family. One document assured me the families were not related and her invented genealogy was nothing more than wishful thinking. Four more documents made my research solid and hers nothing more than fictitious.

I let this person know the genealogy she had constructed was incorrect and the two families, a white one and a full blood Cherokee one, were absolutely not related. While her white family was living in Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, the Cherokee family was always living in Cherokee Nation. She quickly replied that she knew her family had been "called back" to the Cherokee Nation in 1850 because they were never found on the US Census after that date. Ahhhh.......just because she never found them didn't mean they weren't on the US Census. I found them on both the 1860 and 1870 US Censuses within an hour and they were not living in Cherokee Nation where she said they had been called to, but instead, in Missouri.

Still, she was not willing to accept her family was not Cherokee. She replied with a very long message that contained a lot of information she felt "proved" her family was Cherokee. She said she would like to hire me to do in depth research because SHE WANTED TO FIND A CHEROKEE in her ancestry. Notice she didn't say she wanted to learn about her ancestors. She didn't say she wanted to know if there was a Cherokee or not. SHE SAID SHE WANTED TO FIND A CHEROKEE AS AN ANCESTOR.

At this point, I told her I could not help her. It would not matter how much money she paid me because I cannot find something that isn't there. Unfortunately, this woman is not an isolated case. There are many, many people who don't care about their real genealogy. They just want to find a Cherokee as an ancestor, truth be damned. Well, I am sorry, but that isn't genealogy, that is mythology. You cannot make a Cherokee appear where one never was. You cannot prove a family story when it isn't true. And whether we like it or not, sometimes we just can't have what we want.

In my humble opinion, it is pretty pathetic to become so obsessed with a family story that we can't accept the truth when we find it. We are doing our future generations a huge injustice by continuing to perpetuate a family story that isn't true simply because we want it to be true. Wouldn't it be better to learn about your real ancestors and share the stories of their lives with your children and grandchildren instead of telling fairy tales about a Cherokee grandma that never existed? In my opinion, it would.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

CC
The Granddaughter

copyright 2011, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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The Legacy of Grandma Polly

This is just a simple slide show that includes photos of the family and descendants of Grandma Polly. Her descendants include many college graduates, decorated soldiers, accomplished athletes, and nationally known poets, writers, and artists. We have come a long way since Grandma Polly traveled the Trail of Tears from the old Cherokee Nation to Indian territory over 170 years ago. We are her legacy and I hope she would be proud of us all.



Those are my thoughts for today.
Thank you for reading.

CC
The Granddaughter

copyright 2009, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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Tombstone Tuesday - My Other Grandma Polly

Polly Boots, my great great grandma, was born in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, in 1851, the daughter of Boots and Lee-say (AKA Lizzie Scott). Polly married Hiram Smith and they were the parents of Sam, Tom, and Ellen. Polly was also the mother of Susie Whitewater, Joe McKay, Jim Pickup, Dick Carey and Jim Bean.

Polly lived most of her life in the Lost City area, near where Hulbert, Oklahoma is located today. Polly only spoke Cherokee and was very traditional. Though she opposed the breaking up of Cherokee land and refused to make an application for the Dawes Roll, she was listed on it anyway, as all the others who opposed it were. She was also listed on the Guion Miller roll and all the other Cherokee rolls that were taken during her lifetime.

She was most likely buried in one of the old Indian cemeteries near her home. At that time, many Indians marked their graves with rocks. Each family had a common rock so family members could more easily be identified in the burial ground. Because Polly's grave is not marked in the conventional American manner, it is unlikely the exact location of her grave will ever be known. The picture above is just an example of what her grave might look like. It is not her actual tombstone or grave. Even though I don't know where she is buried, I know that she lived and I will never let her be forgotten.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thank you for reading.

CC
The Granddaughter

copyright 2009, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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Can you tell by looking?

"I have a picture of my great great grandma and you can tell she is Cherokee by looking at her. She has long black hair and high cheek bones." I have heard this more than once and I bet you have too. Often times, people who have family stories of Cherokee blood use the "you can tell by looking" line when all the documentation says their ancestors were white. Like I have said before, I have seen full blood Cherokees, mixed blood Cherokees and whites my whole life. I can't tell by looking who does and who does not have Cherokee Indian blood and I don't think most other people can either. So, today, I have set up a quiz called "Find the Cherokee Indians". All you have to do is look at the picture of the person and then decide whether you think they have Cherokee Indian blood or not.




How do you think you did?

There are 10 pictures of people who were listed as Cherokee by Blood on the Final Dawes Roll. Those people are found in pictures B, F, R, S, T, V, Y, Z, AA, and FF.

There are 13 pictures of people who descend from someone listed as Cherokee by Blood on the Final Dawes Roll. Those people are found in pictures C, H, I, J, K, M, N, O, P, Q, U, BB, and CC.

There is one picture of a person who died before the Final Dawes Roll, but her descendants are found on the Dawes Roll as Cherokee by Blood. That person is found in picture D.

The people mentioned in the three groups above are the only people in the pictures who have Cherokee Indian blood.

The people in pictures A, DD and EE are white. The people in pictures G and L are Creek. Those in pictures E, W, and X are Yankton Sioux.

Hopefully, this little quiz helped show you CANNOT tell one's heritage or nationality by looking at them. And you sure can't tell that your ancestor was Cherokee from a picture! If you want to find your true family heritage, it is best to put the family stories aside as well as the pictures. Dig into historical documents such as census records, tribal rolls and immigration papers to determine the race or nationality of your ancestors. That will be a lot more accurate than a guess based on what you think your ancestor looks like from a picture.

Those are my thoughts for the day.
Thank you for reading.

CC
The Granddaughter

copyright 2009, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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The Myth of the Cherokee Grandma - Part 1

I bet you are wondering who Polly is, aren't you? Well, she was my Cherokee grandma. I know, I know, just about everyone has a Cherokee grandma, but mine is real. I know her name and where she was born and where she died and who her parents were and who her husband was and who her children were. She was born to citizens of the Cherokee Nation East and moved with them when they relocated to Indian Territory. She was listed on every Cherokee roll that was taken from the time of her birth in the 1830's to the Miller Roll. Her existence is well documented and I have a paper trail that leads from her all the way to me.

If I seemed to have gone overboard on what I know about my Cherokee grandma, it is only because so many people claim to have one. Of course all my Cherokee friends have Cherokee grandma's or else they wouldn't be Cherokee, but there are a lot of other people who claim to have Cherokee grandmas too. If you are Indian, you have undoubtedly met at least one of these people in your life. Since you are Indian, these people seem to feel obliged to tell you about their Indian grandma. They rarely have a name to go with this grandma. They just know they have an Indian grandma, often Cherokee, often full blood. They have always heard stories about her.

The story is almost always the same. Here is "The Myth of the Cherokee Grandma".

I had a Cherokee grandma. She was a full blood. Not sure how far back she is in the family tree, but she was able to escape the Trail of Tears and then marry my grandpa. She was able to pass for white so the family never talked about her Indian blood because it was not good to be an Indian back in those days. Later generations didn't talk about her much because they were ashamed of her being Indian. We have tried to research her, but can't find anything about her because records on Indians were so rare.

This is a VERY common story. Oh, there will be a few minor differences to each story that is told, but the ultimate point of the story is to explain why the person cannot tell you who their Indian grandma was and why they cannot register with one of the three Federally Recognized tribes. When someone tells me this story about their family, I always wonder if they realize I have already heard this story at least 100 times before. I wonder if they have any idea how many other people tell a very similar story. And, I wonder if they realize, it is not mathematically possible for every person in the United States who claims to have a Cherokee grandma to actually have one. The historical Cherokee Nation just wasn't that large.

So, I know I might have gone a little overboard on stating what I know about Grandma Polly, but I didn't want her to be perceived as one of those mythological Cherokee grandmas some other people have.

Those are my thoughts for the day.
Thank you for reading.

CC
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