When I was growing up my mom told me my dad’s mother (Evelyn Horn) was full-blooded Cherokee, so I was 1/4. I had no reason to doubt it. We all lived with Grandma for awhile when I was a baby, so Mom knew the family story first-hand. When I was 15, I met my dad….
Category: Ethnicity
Were They Melungeon?
Early in my Roberson research, I investigated the possibility my ancestors were Melungeons. Strictly speaking, the term Melungeon applies to a group of families who lived in and around Newmans Ridge in Hawkins County, Tennessee. My Robersons, in contrast, lived at Wallens Ridge in neighboring Lee County, Virginia. “Beginning in the early 1800s, or possibly…
Becoming Indian
I’ve been chuckling about this video for a few days now. the1491s. “I’m An Indian Too“. YouTube <youtube.com>. Sep 21, 2012, retrieved Dec. 12, 2020. So then. When the laughing subsides for a bit, I’m ready to go on with some more reading around this topic. There’s a particularly active faux Red community on Geni.com….
Warren’s Cherokee Ancestry
I was at coffee with a friend a few days ago when we got mired in a debate about Elizabeth Warren. I was struck by how much misinformation I was hearing. It doesn’t need to be this hard. There is a political narrative that says Warren lied about her Cherokee ancestry. That’s a story for…
Scotland’s regional DNA
I’m still getting used to the new-ish research that shows ancient European populations were largely replaced by later invasions, but the most recent invasions (like the Anglo-Saxons in England) didn’t really replace the local population like we always thought they did. It takes a degree of mental agility to keep up. Now there’s some DNA…