Massachusetts

they reasoned that once they had children of a Cherokee mother, they would be unable to deny their blood. They didn't know European history, culture, or custom, and couldn't imagine the concept of a 'deadbeat dad.' Our people also noticed that mixed-blood offspring at least had a chance of surviving smallpox (from inherited immunity) and didn't hesitate to secure some of that immunity for their own people. The result is that there are a lot of mixed-ancestry with Cherokee people in this country today, most of them undocumented. I don't know what percentage that is. It is true that the tribes confined to reservations tend to scoff at Cherokees, especially those of us who are not brown enough. Each tribe determines the eligibility requirements for its members and the Cherokee tribe requires a blood relative to be listed on the Dawes Roll. The blood quantum element was introduced by the Federal government to inhibit the collection of reparations (never to be awarded) but some tribes also adopted the same way of thinking in order to keep their blood undiluted. No fault, no foul.

Cherokees never lived on reservations. The second women's college in (what is now) the USA was built in the Cherokee Nation (now 13 counties in Oklahoma), the first phone in Indian Territory was installed in the Cherokee Nation. The first native/English newspaper in the USA was the "Cherokee Phoenix." I'm certainly not ashamed of being Cherokee or of my white skin.