Native American ancestry

My father's side of the family, still INSIST we have Cherokee. We all had high cheekbones. Yet DNA has not revealed this at all, in myself and a couple of first cousins. So what is the deal? Did my family out and out LIE to me?

I don't think so. Times were different - and back then, when you married into the family - you were thought of as just that -FAMILY. and the in-law's family became FAMILY. So if there had been a native American, the whole family laid claim to the ancestry.

Our story - My Grandma was adopted. She looked Cherokee. After some research, I found that she was actually raised by cousins of her mother or mother's side of the family. That's what they did back then. Then I started hearing that my Grandpa, also had some Cherokee in his family. They were born and raised till they died, in Scott County, Tennessee. I could find no records of family, that traveled to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears. I then searched for the Eastern Band of Cherokee - and their rolls. I didn't have a consistent surname - and nothing came up in the census.

My search could be for an in-law or non-blood family member who was Cherokee. Heck at this point, that would still be cool - but doesn't mean I have legitimate Native American Ancestry.  What difference does it really make? So what, that I "identified with the Cherokee Nation", in the 60's and 70's.

My new search: What European people had high cheekbones?  :-)






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Genealogy and Me

While growing up, I always loved the stories my Mom told from her youth in Dayton, Ohio. The Depression, World War 2, and her family. It was like a totally different world from where I was - a small coastal town in California. I wish I had paid attention more. I thought I had, but as age creeps up on me, I have forgotten the names of people and places.

Mom did a good job keeping up with her side of the family's genealogy. Back then, they were written in the Bibles and you believed it. Now I find, that on Ancestry, many of the dates are wrong. Back then, many gave birth at home and would get a provisional birth certificate, in order to attend public school. You would see Grandmas and Moms walking up to the school, their arms full, carrying the Holy Bible, with names and dates of everyone in the family.

Mom knew a lot about her Mom's family. However, it was her father's family that she always wanted to know more about.

I, on the other hand, was fascinated with my father's side of the family, having been told, we had a good portion of Cherokee in our blood. I only wanted to know about that. No one had any good information back then. When these genealogy sites started on the Internet, I joined.

Of course, I started with my father's side and ran into so many walls. I gave up for a while.

Then I started my mom's side of the family. Her mysterious father and his family became my obsession.

In 2008, my mom committed suicide. To fill my days, of grief, I got back into genealogy and began searching for the answers my mom never got.

Boy, did I find them!

Rooted by Blood, DNA and a lot BS

I am finding out the hard way, many of the "family stories" were just that - stories. No evidence to substantiate. Therefore, I have to go with the lack of evidence and go toward the direction of what is true, according to records. Disappointing to say the least. I basically grew up, believing I was part Cherokee. I also never knew I had more Scandinavian than anything else. Even though, the many Swede's I have known throughout my life, always said, they were convinced by looking at me, that I was Swedish. I still don't know what part of Scandinavia my Ancestors came from. Doesn't much matter anymore.

I am the only one of my birth family, still alive. My sister, left me in Sept. 2015. Killed me. I wanted her and me to investigate more into our family. We never got a chance. I would have loved to have found out, what DNA, she got from our parents. I always assumed, siblings would get the same DNA from our parents, but that is not so. It would have completed the whole picture for me - I am one who enjoys the science of all of this, more than anything else.

For the BS stories, look for the labels that say BS. If said BS Story is found to have some evidence, then I will change it. Until then, the Cherokee in my family is a big, story of bull-shit.