More than likely, no, your female ancestor was not a full blooded Cherokee

Most of y'all know that Cookie suffers from the tombstone twitch - genealogy is my hobby, my profession, my passion.

And it being the 2010's, that means you have to have some level of comprehension when it comes to DNA, because DNA Testing is the latest fad in genealogy.  Like cocaine in the 80's, everyone is doing DNA testing to find their "roots".

Minus the white powder on their noses, some people get addicted to DNA.  Some of these people check and recheck their results every flipping day, multiple times a day, even though the results get updated multiple times throughout the week.

When I work with people, or am a meeting or a seminar, or even on Facebook, inevitably some well meaning soul will say something like:

"I got," (NOTE: Cookie hates the "I gots" but you see it everywhere these days.) my DNA results in and it's wrong.  My grandmothers grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee and the result don't show that."

And these people have no idea which grandmother had the grandmother - we have two - that this legend supposedly affects.

Then there are the people who say:

"I am asking for a friend of mine* who just received their results, and they seem to be wrong.  His great grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee and it's not showing up in the results."

*Which, by the way, means "I am hiding behind this facade, this ploy, this convention, this charade because I don't want to embarrass myself by sounding stupid."  Sorry Buttercup, but you have outted yourself.

Anyhow, there is a long answer to this Cherokee problem and a short answer.

I will give you links to the long answer below, but in the short answer, its simple: Somebody has been lying to themselves and lying to you, Buttercup.

The Myth of the Cherokee Princess, as we call it, has been an ongoing piece of genealogy lore in the South for generations.  It was used to explain away a lot of stuff.  Darker features on children of light complected people.  Mixed race offspring.  High cheek bones. Etc. and so on.  It was handy, it was used a great deal and its been passed on and accepted without question.  It adds an air of the mystical.

Why?

Let me ask you this.  What child in their right mind is going "sass" their parents and ask them if they are lying.  Not a question.  That kind of sass will get you knocked into next week.

Cookie's Axiom: "that most people who don't know, and are too lazy to know are fond of making shit like that up."

But there are somethings you should know about this myth:

1) It almost always involves a female ancestor.
2) It almost always involves at least a grandmother, a great grandmother, a great great grandmother, etc.
3) The records have been destroyed.
4) The only proof to be had is what someone older than you told you.
5) And no, no one has any way of knowing why that person would lie to you.
6) They most likely were not lying to you.
7) They are telling you what they were told, so they believe it to be real, an undeniable truth.
8) They want you to stop looking where you shouldn't be looking.
9) You cannot use this lie to get to the head of an Indian Nation owned or operated casino buffet line.


The simple fact is DNA tests - when done correctly, by the instructions, and by a reputable firm do not know what you family "lore" is, and it doesn't care what your family lore is.  But the results are the results, Buttercup. Your ancestor is your ancestor, not your token Native American to brag about.

Now there are very real results that show that you could be Native American.  This always happens in families where there is Native American blood.  See what I am getting at?

So if it happens to you, if it happens to family members and even if it happens to some idiot shooting his mouth off about how those DNA labs make stuff up, someone needs to set aside their preconceived notions.

And you can test all you want, but the results are going to be pretty much what they are.  BTW, if you don't like my links provided below, go look for your own, Buttercup.  The truth shall set you free.

Links

Cherokee by Blood

Genealogy.com - Takes on the Cherokee Princess

Why Do So Many Americans Think They Have Cherokee Blood?