Any bloods know of the United Cherokee Nation? Good, bad?

There is no doubt in my family that we have Cherokee blood. I know this from the stories my parents told me growing up. In my childhood we were referred to as the Black Dutch, which may sound unflattering to some but a badge of honor for us. I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to track down ancestry and have hit dead end after dead end. The story I hear is that our ancestors left the Trail of Tear and settled in Appalachia, where the stories of the Black Dutch come from. My Uncle, my mother’s brother, tells me we also have Choctaw in our blood as well. I have considered enrolling in the United Cherokee Nation since we cannot find our way back to our ancestors by documentation. Anyone have any opinions they want to share about this? Is this a good idea or not? Anyone have experiences with the UCN?
No, getting registered on the Dawes Roll has nothing to do with how much Indian blood you have. There is no blood test to tell you what percentage of blood you have by race. To be registered you must show a direct lineage to someone already on the Rolls of the ‘5 Civilized Tribes.’ Some tribes they do have requirements you must something like 1/8 blood, or something like that. But not all of them. The United Cherokee Nation was organized for those whose ancestry did not sign an agreement with the US govt. and they fled and hid out in the Appalachians, commonly known as Black Dutch. Some are referred to as Free Cherokee.

In order to enroll in a federally recognized tribe, you need to be at least 1/4 Native blood. Many tribes have other stipulations for enrollment, for example, some require reservation residency. You may be able to trace your roots with the assistance of a tribal ancestry department, again, depending on the tribe. My question to you is, if you know nothing of your heritage or traditional ways, why do you feel the need to be enrolled? Are you hoping to gain something like per cap payment or college funding? I doubt you’d be successful with obtaining either through the UCN. Being Native is not just carrying a card to try to get something for nothing. For real Native Americans, it’s a way of life that we try to preserve and we don’t NEED a card for that.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 11:13 pm and is filed under United Blood Nation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.