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In late 19th century North Georgia, there were only Whites, Blacks and Amerindian people. You belonged to whichever of those three groups you looked like. I don't know what anyone's basis would be for suggesting she was anything other than Cherokee.
The point is people's perceptions are often wrong. Many people look at a photo and think they look Native American but just find out they have traits from different regions and ethnic combinations... like different areas of Europe even where you might see darker skin and similar traits. Likewise many people with European and African DNA mixed will often display traits people associate, such as straight black hair etc, but often don't have any Native DNA despite the story of that.
Basically people's perception of what "looks" Native American is often wrong and isn't a valid basis for proof, unless an extremely high portion of Native DNA possibly, such people who are a a high portion and mostly of a specific ethnic DNA can sometimes be identified (but even then human perception is far from perfect).
Many of those alleged photos of half Cherokee ancestors turn out to be wrong.
The point is people's perceptions are often wrong. Many people look at a photo and think they look Native American but just find out they have traits from different regions and ethnic combinations... like different areas of Europe even where you might see darker skin and similar traits. Likewise many people with European and African DNA mixed will often display traits people associate, such as straight black hair etc, but often don't have any Native DNA despite the story of that.
Basically people's perception of what "looks" Native American is often wrong and isn't a valid basis for proof, unless an extremely high portion of Native DNA possibly, such people who are a a high portion and mostly of a specific ethnic DNA can sometimes be identified (but even then human perception is far from perfect).
Many of those alleged photos of half Cherokee ancestors turn out to be wrong.
If someone were to mistake this man for something other than what he was, I'd say they need their eyes checked.
You really, really want me second guessing something my family has always known and I'm telling you it's a waste of time. Blacks mixed with Amerindian may in fact be a rare thing, but you're talking to a walking exception.
You really, really want me second guessing something my family has always known and I'm telling you it's a waste of time. Blacks mixed with Amerindian may in fact be a rare thing, but you're talking to a walking exception.
If you take him out of the native clothes, then it would be hard to distinguish him as a native American.
I agree with others that you cannot tell people via their looks. FWIW I am a black American, I have many "mixed" relatives and many of them look like a typical native American. One of my nieces could "pass" as a native if I dressed her up in a native ensemble. Her mother is 3/4 black - 1/4 white and her father is half black/half white. They have no known native ancestry. She is brown with straight, thick hair and a wide face like an "Indian" but she is not one.
I noted earlier that my grandfather did show some native ancestry. Via gedmatch admixture calculators it ranges from a little over 1% to a little over 3% depending on the calculator. He has known native ancestry from the 1600s-1800s via specific tribes who lived near "free" black people. Many natives who intermarried with whites and blacks centuries ago, were labeled as "black/negro" in the 20th century because some states (like VA and NC) passed laws that people either had to be one thing or another. My grandfather was unaware of his indigenous ancestry until I started researching it.
Ironically on my maternal/maternal side (grandfather is maternal/paternal) they have an "indian story" about my 3rd great grandmother whose ancestry via traditional research I've shown to only be black and white (African and European). They were very disappointed and tried to claim the picture of my 3rd great grandmother's "high cheekbones" were "proof" of her native ancestry
You really, really want me second guessing something my family has always known and I'm telling you it's a waste of time. Blacks mixed with Amerindian may in fact be a rare thing, but you're talking to a walking exception.
The scenario of people mis-identifying Ancestors as Native American based on looks and photos (Black or White) is quite common.
You really, really want me second guessing something my family has always known and I'm telling you it's a waste of time. Blacks mixed with Amerindian may in fact be a rare thing, but you're talking to a walking exception.
I dunno. That doesn't look too much different from Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles.
The Lenni Lenape harbored many escaped slaves, who then married in to the community. These families still exist in South Jersey.
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