To all the 1/64th Cherokee's

"Native" Twitter has been blowing up in the past couple of days, largely over the Elizabeth Warren news... For those of you who are unaware, Senator Elizabeth Warren is known for claiming Cherokee ancestry. She has been criticized, by many other Indigenous people, as well as Donald Trump, for falsely claiming her heritage to personally benefit her and her campaigns. She has been given the nickname, "Pocahontas", by Donald Trump, as an insult towards her claims of being Native. To further add to the controversy, Elizabeth Warren recently released results from a DNA test that she took, that showed "strong evidence" that Warren had Native American pedigree "6-10 Generations ago".

However, the main reason I wanted to share my opinion/shed light on this issue, is because I am Cherokee. More specifically, I have heritage from all 3 federally recognized Cherokee tribes. I also grew up on the Qualla Boundary, also known as the Cherokee Indian Reservation for the first 18 years of my life. I am also a proud alum of Cherokee High School class of 2017. To give you all better context, my maternal grandmother is from Cherokee Nation and also the United Keetoowah Band from Oklahoma. My grandmother's family, the Millers, were on the removal, meaning they relocated to Oklahoma. My maternal grandfather, on the other hand, was Eastern Band of Cherokee. His family hid in the mountains during the removal period, and was able to remain in our homelands. Growing up, I did not understand how amazing it was to have this strong lineage of Cherokee in me. Of course, I knew I was Cherokee. But back then (and even today sometimes), I only recognized that I am Eastern Band of Cherokee, because this is the tribe I am enrolled in...

It was not until my freshman year of college that my mindset began to shift. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to live on the Native American Theme Floor, alongside 8 other Native American Students, who have been given the opportunity to live on the same floor, in the same building. This gave Native students the chance to live with those who share the same experiences, and overall have someone we can relate to. I loved living there, although we did not have enough Native students to fill the whole floor, we still had our little community. As well as living together, we all had to take a weekly seminar class, learning topics of identity, colonialism, historical trauma, etc. Almost every week, we were assigned some type of reading. Whether that be "Custer Died for your Sins" or "The Inconvenient Indian", to the "Three Pillars of White Supremacy" and "Indigenous Identity". Everything I read in that class, I learned something new.

One of the topics that I completely changed my views on was Indigenous identity. This is also a topic that I am constantly intrigued by. Before coming to college, I was very closed minded, as well as colonized in many ways. I never understood growing up how problematic I actually was. I remember being in high school, thinking that you are not "truly Native", if you were not enrolled in a federally recognized tribe. To think back on this, I am embarrassed. I cannot believe this was my colonized way of thinking. One of the first things I learned in the NATP seminar was that blood quantum and enrollment are both socially constructed, and both play huge roles in continuing colonialism. Blood quantum was created by the Federal government to suppress Native people, and if you don't believe me, please do your own research! Thinking back now, my logic was a lot like Elizabeth Warren and those who claim to be 1/64th Cherokee. If you can just prove ancestry, that was enough for me! But see, while learning more and more about indigenous identity, I found out quickly that it is more complex than this, and indigenous identity cannot be as black and white as a DNA test or blood quantum.

According to Hilary N. Weaver, in "Indigenous Identity", she says, “there is little agreement on precisely what constitutes an indigenous identity, how to measure it, and who truly has it.” This is absolutely correct. While thinking about what makes someone "truly native", I was confronted by many questions. Who gets to decide? But more importantly, who am I to deny anyone of Native ancestry? I cannot fully answer any of these questions and be completely right, because indigenous identity is so complex, and includes so much history, trauma, circumstance, and often times erasure. While ancestry very much makes up indigenous identity, however, it is not the only thing. Other aspects of Indigenous identity is cultural and traditional, although there is complexity within these aspects. There are Indigenous people across the US, who grew up on reservations, and others who grew up urban. There are Indigenous people who have been affected by relocation, and the various Indian Relocation Acts. There are Indigenous people who were adopted out of their tribes, even after the Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted. There are Indigenous people who were forced to assimilate and were made to feel ashamed to be Indigenous, so they acted like they weren't. Due to the 526 years of colonialism, Indigenous identity has became a twisted and overcomplicated concept.

While continuing my research into Indigenous Identity, the same solution has been brought up by multiple different Indigenous scholars. That solution is Native people must begin to examine their own histories and issues rather than leaving these analyses to non-natives. Many complexities surround Indigenous identity comes from non-natives. Often times, it is non-natives perspectives on what makes someone Native that is accepted. This occurs largely because of our transparency. Non-Natives think they can look at us and tell which one of us are "real Natives", and that they know how we feel, and what should be done to help us. However, due to our transparency, the more we try to be ourselves, the more we are forced to defend what we have never been. Every time I find myself telling someone I am Cherokee, I have to be ready to debunk any stereotype that people have of my tribe. Even when I do this, I sometimes feel belittled, because I didn’t say my tribe lived in teepees or wore headdresses, and therefore, did not please the person who asked. Either way, I truly believe it is time for Indigenous people to reclaim what it means to be "Native". This has to come from each individual tribe, and cannot be based on ideas pushed upon us by Non-Natives. We need to decolonize the way we think about Indigenous identity. We also must understand that often times, the things that categorize us as "truly Native", are results of colonialism.

In the case of Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee Nation released a statement in regards to her DNA test. Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. issued the following statement,

"A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America. Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation. Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage."

With the argument I just made, I intentionally stated that Native tribes need to begin to make this decision for themselves. This is what Cherokee Nation did. We must respect it and take this as the ruling that was set forth by the Nation that Warren claims.

However, I also have my own limitations on this stance. I wouldn't be a rhetoric major if I didn't add some counterarguments to strengthen my opinion LOL.... While I still believe that it is up to individual tribes to spell out what it means to be Indigenous, I am also not opposed to inviting those who believe they have Native ancestry, to investigate and learn more about the culture they are claiming. See, my problem is not with those who think they are Indigenous and want to learn more. I have a problem with people claiming Indigenous identity when it is convenient for them. This goes for Elizabeth Warren, and the rest who claim to be 1/64th Cherokee. If you are going to claim Indigenous ancestry, please claim every aspect of it. That means the good, the bad, and the ugly. I can't choose when or what times I am Cherokee, because I am Cherokee 24/7, 365 days, all the time. I dealt with racism and discrimination on almost a daily basis. Microaggressions are the new norm, and people look down on me because my skin is brown. But you know what? I would not change being Cherokee for anything. I would gladly go through hell and back, just like my ancestors did, to continue living my life as a Cherokee woman. I am constantly learning more about my culture and language everyday, and I am doing so, even while living in California.

So there is really no excuse. There is also no excuse for those claiming 1/64th Cherokee, and lighter skinned people like Elizabeth Warren, to not use their white-passing privilege to help "their people." There is no excuse for those claiming indigenous ancestry to not learn more about the culture they are claiming. There is also no excuse for those people to not use their voices to speak on the many issues that Indian Country faces.

So to my 1/64th Cherokee people, let me ask you some questions. What are you currently doing to help benefit the culture and tribe that you are claiming to be? What all have you done to learn more about the culture you are claiming? Are you using the fact that you are "1/64th Cherokee" to justify problematic or unacceptable behavior on behalf of the culture you are claiming? Are you only claiming Indigenous ancestry when it is beneficial for you? How have you used your voice to discuss issues affecting the culture you are claiming? What can you do in the future to help, rather than further complicating things?

These are some questions I want you all to keep in mind.

And know that being indigenous is more than your outdated, fetishized, colonized, white man's perceptions on what it means to be a "real Indian"

We as indigenous people are resilient, strong, beautiful, and distinctive.

And now, we are self-defined.

A-gi-tsi <3