|
|  |
|
|
|
| |
| Aug 03, 2005 2:41 pm |
|
re: re: re: re: choosing a business name |
Danielle Bailey
| |
*chuckles* Usually it's the black eyes that give me away... or the weird mouth. But usually the black eyes. My father is Cherokee. My mother is French/Irish. Which explains *my* name. My grandmother's maiden name was Mankiller. I have no idea where it came from but I've considered adopting it a time or two :) The name isn't unusual in the region where she was from.
She passed away when I was 6 years old. My grandmother's siblings were raised in a school sponsored by the Methodist church where they were forbidden to speak their native language or practice native customs. It was cultural genocide, but government sanctioned so I'm afraid what I know of the Cherokee ancestry could fill a thimble. Very little was passed on in our family. Some families, though not many, have gone back and spent a great deal of time researching and living their heritage. Our family is still Methodist and a member of the United Methodist Church locally.
Surnames came about in a couple of ways. Much like the slaves brought from Africa, natives were also made slaves. Slaves of both races adopted the surnames of the families that owned them. There was also intermarriage, the adoption and creation of names for census taking (Dawes Rolls), the placement of native children in English foster homes, etc. At this stage in history, I'm surprised to find that you have friends with no last names, though it would be understandable if they had chosen to drop English names as a way of reclaiming their culture.
One thing I can say, my family is not "Indian" as we have no relatives from India :) My father's family has always been a little vehement on that point. The Cherokee are a nation, much like the French or English, and it would be something like referring to a person from Paris as German.
At any rate, I'm rambling, and I didn't intend to do so. Basically I just wanted to say that I'm a poor research subject :) I'm interested in genealogy etc, but I've never been able to do more than dabble lightly in it. I am much like a person with a black father and white mother, my parents defined my race by saying that I was one or the other and that's what I've stuck with. Interesting questions, though I'm sorry I'm such a poor fount of information :)
Best wishes,
Danielle Bailey
Private Reply to Danielle Bailey (new win) |
|
| |
|
