For some reason when I’m talking to an American from the North East and the fact that I’m mixed comes up they always say they aren’t white they’re actually native because his grandpa once mentioned something about a Cherokee ancestor.
It’s always Cherokee, no other tribe but that one. And it’s always the whitest looking person ever, straight up 6ft tall blue eyed and blond guy.
I get it, I’m mostly white too, Spanish and Slavic. But even tho I’m not mostly native American I still look native enough that people think I’m Asian.
But when your ancestry has been so diluted over the generations… You’re not native. It’s not just that you don’t look native, it’s also that you don’t even participate in the culture.
Dude you’re just a farm boy from Philadelphia you’re probably more Amish than Cherokee, if that supposed ancestor is even real at all and not just some random claim by some of your ancestors to have a “right over these lands”.
The problem is many many native children were intentionally separated from their culture. Lots of people who would otherwise be able to speak a different language, engage in other cultural practices, etc, are unable to because of actions by the government.
Then you also have really messy cases like the descendents of people enslaved by certain tribes, who should be able to be members of the tribe, but aren’t able to.