Hi, I'm mixed blood also and proud of my Choctaw / Cherokee heritage. When people meet me, they question my heritage because of my looks. I'm light brown haired, green eyed and with light skin(I let them know my father, English/German is responsible my looks. My mother is dark skinned, black haired and blue eyed. My grandparents, had the "Choctaw, Native American, First People" look. The Navajo people use the the term Dine', "The People". My Grandparents lived in Pond Creek, OK and moved to Arizona in the 1934. We were taught to respect all cultures and do the best we could possibly do to maintain ours. All of these terms are used to recognize and describe who we are to others for their understanding. I know who I am and am very proud of this. I prefer, Choctaw. However any of the other respectful terms of description will do. There will always be controversy even among ourselves. Respect for ourselves is most important. I'm an artist who work recreates paintings based in reseached information of North and South American artifacts. I'm not an expert, however I have to research all the artifacts used in my paintings. I have done extensive research with Archeologist from Mexico and Arizona on their projects. I have work in the Museum of History and Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico. Through my own research and some of the experts in the Anthropological field say there are similarities to the the Aztec culture with the artwork, the burial sites, the ballgames, stories, ect. The ballgame and stories were some of the areas that my research was focused on for work in the museum in Mexico. The "Mound People" are said to be desended from a similar culture. This is one area that I am interested in because of my heritage. The 5 tribes and possibly others came from them. The Aztec culture has been known to reach up into Arizona and New Mexico with the trade. Their trade routes were extensive and some people forget that trade routes were in Canada, Mexico and South America before Columbus ever set foot in the Americas. In ruins in Arizona, Gulf Coast shells and shell jewlery have been found in the desert. We don't have an ocean in this area...Mexico is the closest. This is one example of trade. The Hopi and similar cultures have stories about migration to the 4 directions. Their beginings seem to have connections to South America and Mexico. In the migration, they are to have traveled to the end of the land in all 4 directions. Canada is known as the back door in Hopi stories. There are stories that say they went to get water from each direction and then went to Oriabi, the center of the earth for them. This is paraphased. Remember, that in stories, myth and legend, there is a kernal of truth... Hope this helps. Judith -----Original Message----- From: Dodie <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2000 8:02 AM Subject: Re: [CHAHTA] Is there an "exact" answer >I live in TX and get the same thing. I am mixed blood and people here assume I am >Mexican. I have been asked if I speak English many times and I do not have a real >dark complexion. It is because we have a large Mexican population here and of >course we are related to the Mexican people, so share many of the same features. >I read some where that the Chahta are/may be from the Aztec. Does anyone else >know of this? I think I read this somewhere on the net. I'm terrible about >finding something then forgetting to bookmark it. I too am very proud of my >Chahta blood and always say I am Chahta. >Dodie > >[email protected] wrote: > >> Reading all these discussions about what we should call ourselves, I was >> reminded of what had happened to me recently. I was asked what nationality >> I am, to which I replied. "Choctaw". Their response was: "What's that?" >> I had to explain that I am a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma while >> living in SE Texas where most seem to assume that I am Hispanic by my >> coloring. I do prefer to be called Choctaw over any other nationality. >> Trish >> >> ==== CHAHTA Mailing List ==== >> Choctaw Home Page: >> http://freepages.cultures.rootsweb.com/~choctaw/index.htm > > >==== CHAHTA Mailing List ==== >To Unsubscribe: >Send msg. to [email protected] >Put "one" word in "body" of message:... "unsubscribe" without the quotes >Nothing in the subject line... Turn off signatures....... >