Reply #2: "I'm 1/64th Cherokee" [View All]

[realisticphish]

"so I have given myself a ridiculous stereotypical native american name"

My parents went to high school with a girl who has 1/millionth Iroquois. No one even knew it at that point.

A few years ago, she wrote an article for the Ohio Historical Society about how hard it was growing up as a native american with all the "blond, blue-eyed, pale" kids, and the prejudice she received.

My parents went to the same high school I did, in southeastern Ohio. Basically, all the people are German, Hungarian, Irish, and Scottish, with German being 75%. They only remember MAYBE 4-5 kids in their class with blond hair. And around there, at least, being a NA would have been POPULAR, something pretty damn cool. My parents thought about writing a letter to the OHS, but they decided to drop it. She has also claimed the Newark Earthworks as part of her religion, even though the Hopewell Indians who built them died out around 500AD, and Iroquois didn't live in the area until 1200 years later.

I have nothing but respect for NA culture, but it has for too many become a badge that you can wear to deflect criticism, or confer upon themselves expertise in nature, like they had spent their childhoods hunting in the Eastern Woodlands instead of living in suburban Des Moines.