Do You Know Any Native American (First Nations) People?

[shutout52]

I'm skeptical as well but honestly, much of the talk is hearsay from a person's family. I'm skeptical of that hearsay, particularly - not so much in whether that person is telling the truth. I think many actually believe it to be the truth.

This is true. There was a longtime family story on my mom's side that my great-great-great-grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee. And my grandfather looks like he could be-- if she was 100%, that would have made him approximately 1/8. He actually met her once when he was young and his parents and siblings made a trip to visit her.

However the more I dug into it, it seemed highly unlikely since she was born near the Kentucky-Tennessee border in 1859-- 20 years after the Trail of Tears. Most histories say that the Native populations of Kentucky were forced out or killed by the early 1800s. Additionally after some digging I was able to find her father's name and he was most definitely not Native. Her mother may have been: I can find little to no information on her. However nothing indicating Native American ancestry has come up in my DNA test. So I would assume my family legend to be just that-- a legend.

It would be cool if it's true, but I'm pretty skeptical. And it's not like I'd feel that I'm owed anything for it or somehow "more American" than anyone else. Would just be a cool tidbit and if it's not true, it's not true. I'm not losing any sleep over it; I'd rather have an accurate portrayal of my background than to be desperate to hold onto some story that ultimately has no truth to it.

To answer the initial question, I work with two sisters who have some Native background (never asked specifically what), and have known a few others with a degree of it. And I'm sure my dad knew some growing up-- he was from Michigan's Upper Peninsula and there were a lot of people there who called themselves "Finndian"-- having one Finnish parent and one Chippewa parent.

[Rolling]

Myself (Métis - Ojibwa, Seneca, Cree), relatives, friends, a number of elders and went to school with a tribal chief.

[Pappy]

It appears a few on this thread didn't understand the question.

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitst...=1&isAllowed=y

http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2008/10...on-of.html?m=1

[elethe]

I live in London and I know a Native American person who lives there.
Coincidentally I found Native American in my admixture on my Ancestry DNA test. I still haven't traced how yet. My ancestry on paper is almost all European.

[Chad Rohlfsen]

Myself (Métis - Ojibwa, Seneca, Cree), relatives, friends, a number of elders and went to school with a tribal chief.

Nice! My daughter has some Ojibwa. Most of her native is Arikara though.

[afbarwaaqo]

I know a few, cool people

[JerryS.]

I've met a few that were quite mixed in the Algonquian group, but I know some that are Sioux and are fairly pure, though it is rumored that some had an Irish great grandfather.... you couldn't tell by looking at them.

[Schleswig]

My mother was close to a Native American woman when she was younger. I'll have to ask what tribe she was part of.

[mildlycurly]

I used to know someone who was 1/4 Native American, despite growing up in the tribe and having a general interest in pan-Indianism he considered himself Irish-American.

[shazou]

I've never met any full-blooded Native Americans in the US other than Mexicans who could pass for full-blooded Aztec/Mayan lol.