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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