You were a denizen of Union County, so you're well aware of the Melungeon culture. Most think they were descended from Native Americans, which is just not true. The Melungeons, as has been proven by Halyprop DNA testing, are the descendents of Iberian Peninsula whites and sub-Saharan Africans. Dispels a lot of the 1/8 bullshit floating around Tennessee......
I posted the above comment before reading this. Further proves that OE can read minds. I'm beside myself....
Do you believe the entire South is 1/8th Cherokee? Or all of East Tennessee? Because everyone claims to be. It's crap. Most people are mistaken. They may have had a great grand parent who was 1/4th themselves, but that doesn't make their great grandson 1/8th.
Now we are getting into the heart of what is most irritating about faux native culture in this country. Tell me about this "legacy" and what it is. Tell me how one honors it every day. And tell me being 1/500th anything meaning jack shit.
My great great grandmother was undoubtedly Cherokee. My g-g-f married a Cherokee bride after a trek over the hill, which my family was wont to do, as a few of you may know (hint: Mt. LeConte). I met may Native American brethren on several occasions, even went fishing with them in LeConte Creek beside my family's motel in G-burg way, way back in the day. I'm also German, Scottish, French-ish? (DeBusk), and a bunch of other stuff. Keying in on one heritage, unless it's the predominant paternal name of your clan, is cloying, imo.
