"On the issue of mixed-race Americans who have Cherokee in them, this is not necessarily a made-up fantasy of wannabes.

Anyone who has studied Cherokee history knows that there was very widespread intermarriage between Cherokee women and the male explorers and mountain men who ventured into the Smokey and Appalachian Mountain region in the decades before the American Revolution and after.

The ancient Cherokee culture was matriarchal, female-oriented and allowed significant social and sexual freedom to women. In some ways, the ancient Cherokee culture was comparable to the Polynesian societies of the Pacific region. This freedom, the reported warmth of the Cherokee people and lonely hunters, trappers and explorers resulted in many mixed-race children.

Through the 1700s and the �Trail of Tears� forced migration in the late 1830s, and beyond, many generations of mixed-race Cherokees were born. Often, but not exclusively, these were people of Cherokee and English or Scottish backgrounds. By the time of the Trail of Tears, there were already several generations of this kind."

Get the Story:
Steve Hammons: Columnist's article on Native Americans, Cherokee, needs more insight (The American Chronicle 11/17)

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