tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post6155051831895827185..comments2024-03-27T14:08:51.191-05:00Comments on American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Dear Elizabeth Warren: I know kids who would ask their parents for proof of their identityDebbie Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-87725649159374191212012-10-01T19:07:12.000-05:002012-10-01T19:07:12.000-05:00I don't see any problem with her acknowledging...I don't see any problem with her acknowledging that she has Cherokee ancestry if that is the case and the tradition in her family. I grew up with a fair number of people who didn't qualify for tribal membership because they didn't meet the blood quantum requirements for the tribe (25 percent in that tribe's case) but who were still very much Indians, with the surname and the family ties. Yes, I know how tribal sovereignty works and that each tribe has its own laws and ways of deciding who is a member. I am white but about half of my high school classmates were American Indians.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-7844339551004845892012-09-30T09:41:01.514-05:002012-09-30T09:41:01.514-05:00Did you see the op-ed piece in the New York Times ...Did you see the op-ed piece in the New York Times today about the Warren/Brown situation? The scariest line is this one: "Once I was told I couldn’t be Indian because we’d all been killed" and that line alone sums up why I'm so glad you do what you do. <br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/kill-the-indians-then-copy-them.html?ref=opinion<br /><br />JCDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-1216950502510476362012-09-26T07:51:43.189-05:002012-09-26T07:51:43.189-05:00Hear, hear. Like many in the South, I grew up hear...Hear, hear. Like many in the South, I grew up hearing that I had a full Cherokee great(great?)grandmother. And for a while, when I was younger, I thought that was so cool. then I did a little research, realized that I didn't even know the name of the supposed ancestor, let alone her tribal affiliation, started to discover some of the recent history and current issues facing the Cherokees and other tribes in the area. And then I was mostly ashamed. Now I try to remain educated.Kaethehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01138988651491869091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-6633091128363890322012-09-25T19:43:35.535-05:002012-09-25T19:43:35.535-05:00Anonymous,
I don't see any evidence in any of...Anonymous,<br /><br />I don't see any evidence in any of her remarks that she understands there is a distinction between the two (citizenship/ancestry). If she did know, she could have articulated the difference. <br /><br />The difference is important. If she really knew what it means to be Cherokee, either a citizen OR a person who has ancestors but can't be enrolled as a citizen, she could have explained all of that, but she didn't. <br /><br />And, she did, at one point, admit to checking the box so that she could meet other people like her. I don't think she knew what that meant, either. And, I'm not sure she really wanted to "meet other people like her" because according to Native students at Harvard, she did not reach out to them and did not attend events there. Harvard has had a program for Native students for a long time. Debbie Reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-59238647341988370452012-09-25T19:29:53.579-05:002012-09-25T19:29:53.579-05:00Did she claim to be a Cherokee citizen? How is cl...Did she claim to be a Cherokee citizen? How is claiming ancestry akin to claiming citizenship? I can claim French ancestry, but I wouldn't meet the requirements for French citizenship. (Nor would I try to.) I'm just trying to understand the difference. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com