Question by seeker of answers: why do some “white” people claim native American heritage?
yet know nothing about any of the native American cultures, for example I know one woman who claims she’s mostly Cherokee, she talks about how the Cherokee had shamans and witches ect.. yet the word shaman is Siberian and from what I understand there is neither witches nor shamans in any native American culture.
your views?
and if a full-blooded Cherokee could lend some insight that would be nice too lol
ki_utopia, your lack of knowledge is disturbing, I’m guessing you don’t even know what a shaman is.
Calli, having similarities and being the same are two different things, a shaman is not a medicine-man and a medicine-man is not a shaman.
I think it very insulting to both to make such claims that they are the same, they may have things in common but remember that the differences are vast as well.
Josephine,with how many “white cultures” there are I find it hard to find them bland or boring, my favorite history to study is Scandinavian history, it’s as rich as bill gates and as noble as the greatest of kings lol.
every culture is rich so long as you do a bit of digging.
Best answer:
Answer by ki_utopia
many culutres have withces and shamans around the world
they just dont use the words withces and shamans
native americans were pagan in many aspects, their totem poles are carved idols to the gods or spirit guides they beleived in
being pagan did not make them evil, it just meant that they did not know about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ just yet
but now they do
Add your own answer in the comments!
Although most Americans now have a heritage rich in other cultures ( African, Irish, German, English, and Native American) The Native American is one in which at least one individual in every family group can claim. Now most are like 1 percent some do have stronger blood ties to the Native American. Shamanism (if you will) is a word used in place of the crasser “medicine man”
check here
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/not_shamans.html
If someone has native American heritage then they are not white they are mestizo.
The aztecs had a high priest but they were more like wizards.
I know I have one of my white friend claims he is mostly native american even though and him and his family are so white. But hey, cant get mad at him.
To get attention and feel more interesting,thus more important…duh? I’m thinking you may have figured that one out by yourself, but here is the confirmation you went fishing for anyway.While the sheer amount of white people claiming this ancestry generates a feeling that likely not all claims are true (but rather a product of the above) I’m pretty sure they’re not all liars.
There are neither witches nor shamans in Native American culture because they are recognised as medicine men and women instead. They perform the much the same functions and even have some similarities in dress. Do not forget that this is because many Native Americans are descended from those bands which came from Asia (meaning mostly Siberia) through the Bering Strait.
Many white people who claim Native American heritage are simply going on what their relatives tell them. My family always told me that we were part Comanche, but just a little genealogical research proved that to be a “misunderstanding”. Now, whenever white people tell me that they have “Indian blood” I always ask them “Are you sure? Have you done the research on it?” Most haven’t. They’re usually pretty taken aback by my asking. I just tell them what happened to me – that I spend most of my life thinking I was part Comanche and researching a people that I didn’t even belong to – and suggest they do their family tree a few generations back, just to be sure. I always thought I was “part indian” too but I’m actually 100% European by heritage.
Many white people DO have some Native American ancestors, and many draw pride and strength from that ancestry. Some even officially join the tribe; from what I understand, most of them will allow people to join as long as they have a certain blood degree and can prove it with birth certificates, ect. The way I see it, if they’re serious about their heritage they should look it up and get familiar with it, since it’s supposedly a part of who they are.
“Shamans” may have originated in a certain part of the world, but for the most part it seems to be used as a blanket term for tribes’ medicine men – or healers. Some people may call them Shaman now, but you can be certain that in their times, in their languages, they were called something different. However, “witches” are something entirely different. I think that your friend is probably just going on what she’s been told by her relatives, as many people do.
As for why so many white people do this, I guess it’s probably because they want to identify with something more “colorful”. The “white race” seems to be seen as very plain, flavorless and not interesting at all. When speaking of ancestry, many people think it makes them seem more interesting if they can claim that they’re “part something”. It’s probably the same reason that they claim either Irish or German, if they talk about their “white side” at all. Many people find Irish and German cultures intriguing, much more so than, say, English. Native American ancestry seems more noble and romantic than being “plain old white”.
You would be surprised at how many Native American tribes now consist of people who are 95% white and have hardly any Native blood at all.
That being said, it is possible that she could have some native ancestry. It really isn’t that rare of a find for people in this country.
I think many people trump up their Native ancestry to seem more exotic.
Ok …as for people claiming to have a Native ancestor and I admit most of them say Cherokee….I guess they do it to feel like they are part of something ( a culture, history etc) of something good, many want the supposed “monthy check” although that is just a myth…..there are as many reasons as their are people making that claim.
As for shamans…..Never believe anyone Claiming to be American Indian shamans , talking about tarot cards and Wiccan/pagan things, or talking about crystals and New Age things. I’ve got nothing against shamanism, paganism, or the New Age, but a cow is not a horse: none of these things are traditionally Native American. Shamanism is a Russian mystic tradition, Wicca is a religion based in pre-Christian European traditions, Tarot readings are an Indo-European divination method, and the New Age is a syncretic belief system invented, as its name suggests, in the modern era. None of them have anything to do with authentic Indian traditions, and anyone who thinks they do is likely to be wrong about anything else he claims about Native American religions as well.
I made cards out for fake clubs years ago..and they are still TRYI G to use them as PROOF they are indians…. Lenapes are the fakest jhere in ohio and pa.. so dont even go there..YOU have to BE a FEDERALLY REcognised TRIBAL Member…. all those cheriokee cards and lenape wolf clubz and eagleclubs turtlesbands.whuteveh..they are all fake..THERE are NO recognised TRIBES in the eastern seasboard of the united states… Only the true ones with them casinos.and even them have fakes amongst them they HID from the govt.. But No..there really are no indians persay here in ohio…WE DO however!, have transplants of FEDERAL recog..and the fakes hate us… but we live here to TRY to straighten them out all tryna be recog’d as CHEEEFS and Moldy holy women..wutever…we have tribal chairppl nowadays NO More cheeefs..ITS anInsult to us who stand here watching them get away with it …showing off tribal fake cards NOT recog’d by the govt… so if you hear fake names like coyotefart or eaglehearts or turtle toes all cheefs or wilsons they’re all FAKES!
My grandmother on my fathers side of the family is registered with the Cherokee Nation.
Her mother and father walked the trail of tears to Oklahoma
Later when they reopen the scrolls to add others to it, my father and my full sister submitted the paper work in time and were accepted.
None of us were raised to know the Native American culture because my grandmother submitted her self to her husband and agreed to call herself “white” after they were married.
My mothers great grandfather was full blood Cherokee, but he was running from the law in the late 1800’s.
Should I consider my self European because I have family from overseas running threw my veins too?
I see the same thing…. mostly on here…. my thoughts….
IF YOU CAN’T PROVE IT THEN DON’T CLAIM IT.
IT DOESN MATTER IF YOUR GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER OR GRANDMOTHER WAS MARRIED TO A NATIVE OR IS A NATIVE!
i think ppl claim to be a decendant of a tirbe to try and gain status or maybe they feel its just something to brag about. who knows.
Probably because they can. Ignorant people eat it all right up, probably hoping to become a fake indian themselves.
Look at your answers. Even though these people KNOW there is no Native American shaman, I bet they would still buy into your friend’s story using their excuses of “blanket term” or “word used in place” to justify it. Never would they take into consideration that a REAL Native would not use the term shaman to talk about a medicine man. They have been told the truth yet refuse to believe it.
People like to sound educated yet refuse to know the truth, as most of your answers have proved. These fake Indians feed off these ignorant people who THINK they know more about Natives than we know ourselves. They have stories of magic and witches, which are probably more exciting than the truth, so people believe it and fuel the fire- taking what they’ve “learned” about Natives as the truth and passing the lies along to their friends.
This has been happening since the mid 70’s. After people started thinking that all Natives were dead, many started to realize the wisdom in traditional ways. Unfortunately, that made many think that claiming false ancestry was morally acceptable.
As for your Cherokee friend, maybe she uses the word shaman because she’s not aware of her mistake? My family says many different words for medicine man, including shaman, but we all know what we mean. I agree, though, that the word shaman is very European. Shamans are not medicine men, but many, including true Natives, ignorantly use them interchangeably.
I hope that I was able to help!
***why do some “white” people claim native American heritage?***
As you may not know, native American’s immigrated from the west coast and filled the North, Central and South Americas. This is the native American heritage. Are you overlooking all the other countries in the Americas and assumes everyone should know you are talking about those in the US?
Let me walk through some history for you.
When the Spanish came, they Integrated with “non indigenous” Native Americans. Like the US, the Mexicans won their independence and owned most of the “western states.” In 1848, that unity was divided at the boarder.
Those north of the boarder were later called, “Native Americans.” Those south of the boarder were called, “white with Latino culture.” And so the US stripped the “Native American” out of Central and South America. Go north into Canada and you won’t find Native Americans either. Like the rest of the countries in the Americas except for the US, integration has occurred.
Only in the US is this segregation perpetuated. Well, the government has to give other peoples money and jobs to someone and this can’t be done if everyone is actually treated equally, now can it? This is because, like health care, gun control, and social security, the government likes to create rules for others they refuse to live by.
Could you imagine how much trouble a citizen would get in if the citizen declared a multicultural continent was just one race? Yet it is OK to refer to Africa as one race because the government loves segregation.
Can you imagine what happens when white people get off the boat from Africa? The US thinks they own him and strip him of his heritage.
Can a white person born and raised in Africa being called an African American? No. The man is judged by his skin color and if you have the wrong skin color, the truth doesn’t matter. So no, he doesn’t fit our stereotype that all people from Africa look the same and so the innocent have to have their heritage is stripped so those in the US can live as bigots!
But hey, the longer we pass through time, the more people will have blended families.
This is only a bad thing for those who love to feel violated by people dead a long time before they were born in order to justify their demands to being treated “special” instead of “equal.”
Hope this helps.
Well most of them try to make themselves feel exotic, the only peoples who can claim that blood is Aztec mexicans, and African americans, but why do white people claim native heritage?…Maybe one of your ancestors raped a native woman, so don’t feel too proud.