For Native American Heritage month, I'd like to share a little about my Cherokee heritage.
I am the daughter of an Indian boarding school survivor who refused to cry when her parents visited her at school because she knew it would make them cry too.
I am the daughter of an Indian boarding school survivor who refused to cry when her parents visited her at school because she knew it would make them cry too.
I am the granddaughter of a "first generation" Cherokee born in the United States. He was born in 1922. All the generations of Cherokees who came before him were born in the Cherokee Nation, not the United States.
I am the granddaughter of Nancy Fisher Carey who was born in 1900 and died in 1957. She only spoke Cherokee and a bit of broken English. She had no choice in becoming a U.S. citizen. That citizenship was forced on her through the Dawes Act, allotment, and the statehood of OK.
I am the niece of Jim Pickup, two time chief of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and granddaughter of Johnson Fisher Sr, Cherokee Nation councilman from the Cooweescoowee District from 1881-1883.
I am a direct lineal descendant of the Old Settler Dennis and Tucker families who removed from the Cherokee Nation in the east to Indian Territory under the Treaties of 1817-1819.
I am a direct lineal descendant of the Ave Vann/Betsy Scott family that removed with the Major Ridge detachment voluntarily after the Treaty of New Echota was signed and before the forced removal today known as the Trail of Tears.
I am a direct lineal descendant of savvy Cherokee business woman & ferry owner, Sally Hughes, who removed from the old Cherokee Nation to Indian Territory on her own before the forced removal. In genealogical terms, she's my 6th great grandmother & our link is well documented.
I am a direct lineal descendant of the Tadpole family that was forcibly removed on the Trail of Tears in the summer detachments that were under the direction of the U.S. Army. Many Cherokees became gravely ill or died in the summer detachments so removal was delayed until fall.
I am a direct lineal descendant of the Carey and Daugherty Cherokee families who supported the Treaty Party and removed during the forced removal with the Bell Detachment, taking a different route than any of the other detachments.
I am a direct lineal descendant of the Boots, Hatchet, Christie, Woodward, Scott, Downing and Jones families that were removed to Indian Territory in the Cherokee led detachments during the extremely cold and harsh fall/winter of 1838-39.
I am the granddaughter of Dave Tadpole & cousin of George Pumpkin, two soldiers who refused to fight against the treaty the Cherokee Nation had with the United States during the Civil War despite the Nation's alliance with the Confederacy. Both joined the Union Indian Home Guard.
I am the granddaughter of four other Cherokee men who also served with the Union's Indian Home Guard during the Civil War - Fisher Hatchet, Johnson Fisher, Mike Carey, and Ave Vann. Ave Vann died in service during a skirmish with Confederate Cherokees.
I am the granddaughter of Polly Vann Downing Tadpole who was listed on every roll of the Cherokee Nation from the 1835 Census, before the forced removal, to the Guion Miller roll, completed shortly after the statehood of Oklahoma.
I am the granddaughter of Polly Boots Smith, a Nighthawk who hid from the Dawes Commission, trying to avoid enrollment, but who was enrolled anyway, by informants, just like all the others who tried to avoid enrollment. Previous rolls were used to ensure all were accounted for.
I am the granddaughter of Polly Christie Fisher who lost her mother, Betsy Christie, on the Trail of Tears. They were all traveling in the Elijah Hicks detachment, so Polly may have been with her mother when she passed away and there when she was buried along the Trail.
I am the niece of the great Cherokee warrior Shoeboots and cousin of Ned Christie, legendary Cherokee warrior and statesman.
I am also the granddaughter of Hatchet, neighbor & ally of the highly revered Cherokee leader, White Path.
I am also the granddaughter of Hatchet, neighbor & ally of the highly revered Cherokee leader, White Path.
I am the granddaughter of 10 people listed as Cherokee by blood on the Dawes Roll - Dick Carey (1), Aaron Carey, Dick Carey (2), Sally Carey, Polly Smith, Peggy Pumpkin, Sarah Sequoyah, Johnson Fisher, Nancy Fisher, and Polly Tadpole.
I am the granddaughter of another who almost lived long enough to be on Dawes. Darkie Tadpole Fisher was on her family's application but she died in childbirth before the Final Roll. She was 32 at the time of her death.
I am a cousin to the Blanket, Pumpkin, Rabbit, Birdchopper, Killer, Swimmer, Bean, Thompson, Pickup, Smith, Shade, Cochran, Potts, Backbone, Roe, Moore, Chopper, Chewy, & Dreadfulwater Cherokee families, plus many more...
Those family connections (and others) come together to form my history, my Cherokee heritage. ALL authentic Cherokees have many connections to the Cherokee Nation and the Cherokee people just like I do. Fraudulent Cherokees (like Elizabeth Warren) don't even have ONE connection.
