Brendan's Mixed Blood Path - A Celtic/American Indian Fusion

Billy Jean Watts, my Cherokee descendent mother

Links to help in your ancestor search listed at bottom of page!

This page is dedicated to all mixed blood people, sometimes known as direct descendents, searching for their path. However I feel I must post a wannabe - new ager - pretendian warning... There is nothing here for those seeking ceremonies or quick paths to being born again Indians. I am a descendent, not a member of any of the federally recognized Cherokee Nations. We can take pride in our heritage and learn as much as we can of it but we will never be tribally born people. Those people are the heart of what it is to be Indian. We can look at them, listen to them and even be supportive of their efforts but we are not them. There is more of this in the article below so if its not what you want to hear just click the back button or click on any of the links listed after the article. If you want to discover your heritage and hear an explanation of how we define ourselves, read on and Tsilugi... Welcome.         

Brendan's mixed blood Native American mother and step-father.

 

On being a Cherokee Mixed Blood

The Celtic immigrants to the new world often found much to admire in American Indians and there was a great deal of intermarriage, especially with the Cherokee. The Dawes rolls are filled with Irish and Scottish names. Chief John Ross was more Scottish than Cherokee being only 1/8 Indian. 

The difference today is not in who is a mixed blood but in who is registered and who had an ancestor on the Dawes rolls and whether a person was raised in white or Cherokee culture. In this country you are one or the other, again, not because of blood quantum but because of the federal government's definitions and the tribe's right to establish membership.   

In Canada we would be known as Metis (Pronounced Meh-Tay) and have a standing of our own. In this country we have no standing with either the U.S. Government or the Tribal governments. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, through its Chief, has admitted that there are many unregistered Cherokee, but that has not led to any offer of recognition, other than through having an ancestor on the Dawes rolls. Perhaps someday we will find a standing with our own tribes or through the United States but such recognition will be a long time coming if at all. Frankly, proving descent, outside of the established rolls is very difficult but it can be done. Even if it can be done it does not establish a right to membership in a tribe or nation.

And why should we worry about such recognition? We are a new people, mixed bloods, with our own destinies awaiting us.

We should take great pride in our Indian blood for we come from a great people, who have a long and rich cultural heritage and who have survived as much as any people in history have. But it would be self delusion to say that we are the same if we have not been raised in the Native cultures. There is blood and then there is culture. For most American Indians whose tribes have federal recognition culture wins out over blood every time. 

There are exceptions to this of course. However, in the interest of clear thinking, let's not succumb to the wannabe ethic, which is an insistence that you be considered Native in every sense and that you have some god given right to demand knowledge, both cultural and ceremonial, from your recognized cousins. The extreme of this of course are persons with no Indian blood attempting to adopt Native ceremonial practices, or merge them with "new age" practices, sometimes charging others monetarily for the right to participate. Such persons are either sadly delusional or outright charlatans.

But what of us who are direct descendents?

We are a branch of a hybrid tree that’s roots are immersed in blood and history but also in love and understanding. When I think of my ancestors white and Indian who came together in marriage, I can’t help but believe that they shared love and cared for one another in the same way that the best relationships we see today happen. Others may see such joining as coming about only through the basest of human emotions, but think of the people that you see today who have "mixed" marriages. Think of the real love and commitment you see in those and it is not hard to believe that our ancestors did not have similar feelings. 

The path to claiming your blood is not an easy one, but bear in mind that no journey with a worth while goal is. Be aware that you are not alone. There are thousands of us whose ancestors left the tribes and mixed with the whites. This was done to avoid removal, to have some autonomy over their own affairs and in some cases because half bloods wanted to be more white than native. Many went under cover claiming to be "Black Dutch" or "Black German" to explain their dark looks and many were too successful in this since within only a few generations, knowledge of being Native American was lost or at best referred to in only the most vague ways. 

My approach to understanding my American Indian Ancestors and my living cousins is done with great respect. I wish only to honor this heritage and will make every effort to conduct my creative endeavors in music, art, and the written word in a way that I hope they approve of. If I make any mistakes in my understanding I hope they will correct my understanding in a friendly way.

Complaints about what whites have done to American Indians or statements that mixed bloods not living in the Nations should have no standing in tribal affairs are valid issues. I agree with these. That said however, the right to speak the truth as you see it on issues even within the tribes or nations is a right of free speech. Just don't expect all tribal citizens to warmly welcome your opinions. 

Never ask people in the nations what your rights are in the way of housing and other benefits. There are not enough to go around for the people who are in the nations. One thing they are right about, our ancestors left the Nations, not caring to have any benefits and it would only show more  greed in wanting to return for these after all this time. 

Wado for listening.

Links (a continuing endeavor)

http://cherokeeproud.com/    (Bible of Cherokee Genealogy Research)   

http://www.yvwiiusdinvnohii.net/Articles2000/JDForbes001126Blood.htm   (Article on Mixed Blood)

http://www.yvwiiusdinvnohii.net/    (The People's Path)

http://www.tngennet.org/cherokee_by_blood/    (Like it says)

http://www.tngennet.org/cherokee_by_blood/miller.htm     (Guide to Guion-Miller Roll)

http://www.tngennet.org/cherokee_by_blood/      (Article on the history & status of the Freed Men )

http://www.geocities.com/bigorrin/index.htm    (A page devoted to Native Languages of the America's)

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/cherokee/index.htm?once=true    (Some free but some paid services) 

http://www.powersource.com/cherokee/default.html    (Excellent Cherokee history and cultural Interest) 

http://www.cherokee.org/    (Official Cherokee Nation Oklahoma Page)

http://www.cherokee-nc.com    (Official Eastern Cherokee Nation  Page)

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/237458  (John's Place, Cherokee who believe that the current Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is a fraud and that the real nation is founded on the 1839 constitution - not for the faint of heart or those who dislike strong opinions.)

More to Come as Time allows!

Further Contact Information

            Dream Time Records