After lurking in the Cherokee groups a bit, I finally requested some geneology help. I'm a "card carrying Cherokee" so my request was a little different than most people in the group. Because the "Cherokee Princess" and "My family hid in the hills" stories are so prevalent, there's actually a group who will research to see if you have any tie to one of the three Cherokee tribes. Hint: most people don't.
I asked for help on my gg grandmother's side. I can trace her husband's family back to one of the Old Families and I can trace her mother's death to the Trail of Tears but past that, things get a little murky. Because of how early our tribe had colonial contact, we're very well documented so I was hoping that maybe the group could help find any information or records I don't already have.
Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything new but I did recive this message
It was a bit overwhelming, really. And it's still kind of confusing remembering how, exactly, we're related. But basically, my 6th great grandfather had a sister and so everyone in this group comes down from the two siblings.
And the thing is, in Cherokee culture, we're all cousins, no matter how far back. It's been really fun recognizing last names from this group as I find more and more documents about my family history. Through this group I found a really surprising story too.
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