http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Churchill#Ethnic_background
There's some debate about whether or not he actually is Native American. I personally think he is, based on my own experience. I have some distant Native American ancestry (my great great grandmother on my paternal side and my great great grandfather on my maternal side, both of which are more or less confirmed, as well as some supposed other ancestors I haven't really been able to verify). I also know for a fact that my paternal great great grandfather was Native American because a cousin of mine has a certificate of Indian Blood but has so far refused to let any of the rest of the family have access to the birth certificates and other records she used to prove our ancestry, so I'm legally not Native American. Also, my great great grandfather said he was white on the census, even though he wasn't. It was actually VERY common for Native Americans to say they were white on censuses, and many invented ancestries such as "Black Dutch" or claimed to be Italian in order to explain their dark complexion. Remember, Native Americans weren't legally citizens of the United States until the early 1900s, so claiming Native American ancestry on a census was more or less suicide. It meant you were either likely to be expelled to a reservation or else lose all of your benefits and protections as a US citizen.
Given this, it's not unheard of for someone to have quite a bit of Native American ancestry and still not be considered Native American by the government/tribal authorities.
One of the reasons it's so hard to prove is that the government and Bureau of Indian Affairs made the requirements very strict (even a DNA test which identifies the person's race isn't considered valid proof when obtaining entry into any of the tribes or getting a certificate of Indian Blood) in an effort to encourage assimilation. The tribal authorities, on the other hand, have been equally as strict and unbending when it comes to people of mixed ancestry in an effort to discourage assimilation and mixing with white people. For example, of someone born on a reservation moves away from the reservation, they permanently forfeit most of their tribal rights and privileges and are not allowed to move back. This is done to discourage people from leaving and assimilating.
However, both sides have the effect of making it very hard to prove Native American ancestry for someone who has been distanced from the tribe for a number of generations.
Therefore, Ward Churchill's story is actually pretty common. I know of other people than just me and him who are in similar situations, and it's perfectly plausible.
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shonuff31986
14 years ago
Youve filled in a few blanks I have had in my life. I have been told that my family has heavy native american ancestry but its become kind of a joke me and my brothers laugh about considering theres also heavy black and puerto rican ancestry. My brothers and I actually found my great grandfathers legal papers and he was listed as "Black Dutch" so we always assumed the native american thing was something my grandfather made up to avoid being listed as 100 percent black. Youve given me something to think about.
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