"Far from perfect"? Geeze Alli, give a gal a break........lol Alli, you've touched upon something that has been controversial for quite a few years. The late Jerri Chastain was adamant in her thinking that if someone or their ancestors wasn't on any of the rolls or living within the Cherokee Nation then they simply were not Cherokee, period. There are still those who think that today. I suppose we all have to form our own way of thinking about this issue. If someone is a few generations removed from a Cherokee by blood ancestor are they Cherokee? If someone has an ancestor a few generations back that is black are they African American? The mixed blood people who remained in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, etc etc are their descendents Cherokee? It touches upon the issue currently being discussed concerning the Freedmen in Oklahoma. Those under discussion are the descendents of non-Cherokee slaves. Joyce Gaston Reece

lol i still love ya Joyce :) Yeah I am (currently) at least 3 generations from my direct Cherokee connection....its the 4th one that connects (as it stands NOW), who knows what it'll end up be :) So yeah......with that way of thinking, I would probably be not even considered by others to be ........ and for me that's ok. I'm not trying to find my ancestor's to be on a roll or get "benefits" or other stuff......I am trying to "connect" my family or put them back together. But I think that if a person is a few generations removed, I think they still have that "connection", they are still part Cherokee. They can't claim full or 3/4's, but they can claim to have Cherokee blood. I have always joked about having a thimble full of Indian blood since all the women married "white" guys after the 4th great grandma ;) Same goes for the have black ancestry.....they may not descend from a black person from Africa.....but they do contain a black ancestor & it should be acknowledged. Heck I have ancestors that had Black slaves (just noting they weren't Indian slaves) so there could very well be a black ancestor or a mix black/white ancestor in my own tree.......don't know how hard or easy it'll be to track slaves from the ancestor's. But someday i might start that trek too :) Alli :) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joyce Gaston Reece" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2012 5:23 AM Subject: Re: [CherokeeGene] genealogy > "Far from perfect"? Geeze Alli, give a gal a break........lol > > Alli, you've touched upon something that has been controversial for quite > a > few years. > > The late Jerri Chastain was adamant in her thinking that if someone or > their > ancestors wasn't on any of the rolls or living within the Cherokee Nation > then they simply were not Cherokee, period. There are still those who > think > that today. I suppose we all have to form our own way of thinking about > this issue. If someone is a few generations removed from a Cherokee by > blood ancestor are they Cherokee? If someone has an ancestor a few > generations back that is black are they African American? > > The mixed blood people who remained in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, > Georgia, etc etc are their descendents Cherokee? > > It touches upon the issue currently being discussed concerning the > Freedmen > in Oklahoma. Those under discussion are the descendents of non-Cherokee > slaves. > > > > Joyce Gaston Reece