EarlofATX

Google Street View and dash cams only reinforce that idea. Russia looks nothing short of utterly depressing.

I grew up in Christian and public schools in one of the most conservative parts of the country, but I feel very fortunate that my teachers always managed to dedicate 2-6 weeks a year to learning Native traditions and what was known of the history. In the Christian elementary school, though, they always managed to put the "Divine Providence" bent to Columbus' discovery of the Americas. To this day, I am absolutely fascinated with Native history, particularly north of Mesoamerica because so much is still being deciphered and uncovered.

One thing I am curious about is what is the general feeling among those with official tribal affiliation about white people claiming Native ancestry? And do you have any suggestions about how someone could explore potential ancestry in a reliable and sensitive way?

Like a good portion of families in the South, my dad's side has their family legends about how my grandmother was raised by her single Native mother, but her memory was notoriously unreliable, and there's basically no written records that I'm aware of. That side of the family doesn't even bother with finding the tribe name other than to say it was whatever tribe occupied East Texas at the time (the Coushatta have a reservation in the county where my dad was born, but they're relatively recent arrivals, and the land was historically Caddo). Given my family history is quite fuzzy and untraceable outside of Texas, it would be cool to find a bit more information about these stories I grew up hearing, but I also want to be careful that I'm not claiming minority status like it's a token accessory.

Many Native groups were first known by a rival group's word for enemy. Lakota/Sioux is another example.

Do you know my friend Graham? If so, tell him hi and that we should geek out over transportation stuff next time I'm in NYC.