re: #792 JHW

My employer, most of my co-workers, my youngest aunt and wife are full-blood Natives,a word they generally dislike (they prefer the name of their Nation, Indian doesn’t bother them generally), all from a different Nation or tribe, all with a great sense of humor, but wannabes irritate the hell out of them, especially the seemingly huge number of people claiming to be part Cherokee. A lot of this has to do with dilution of treaty rights by admitting marginal members with less than stellar documentation. Here in Washington that can be timber or fishing rights. There are still some full-blooded Indians trying to get federal recognition for their historical tribe such as the Cowlitz Tribe , who, IIRC only recently got Federal recognition. Their chairman was also an employer of mine for several years . Their, and others in the same historical situation, long effort for this also accounts for some of the hostility for wannabes. Me, I can claim no Indian ancestry myself, just English and Finnish as far back as I can determine, (early 1700s/1800s depending on maternal/paternal). I’d catch hell if I tried, maybe cold supper too.

Here in California, it’s often casino income. One old gentleman I knew from the Soboba band who was on SSI brought in a check he received for some $50K.

Some people in my family claim to be part Cherokee, but I’ve never bothered with looking it up. Where my family originally comes from, I think half the people in the area claim Cherokee blood (western KY).