Hey, I’m new to the group. Name is Christy. I have loved NA art and jewelry for long while, easy when you are from AZ. My Grandparents always had Indian art and jewelry. I have never really owned big pieces until my Grandmother passed. Now I find myself trying to find out more. I do have Indian blood, Blackfoot and Cherokee, but my family is not registered. My great great great grandfather did not want to register he claimed he was Black Dutch. I hope to learn a few things here.
Welcome! It’s a really cool site for learning, I love it! So what tribe was your grandmother and what is Black Dutch?
We have no idea what tribe as he never registered. We know our bloodline only by oral history, and a brief accounts. Black Dutch are darker skinned Dutch. When the Spanish came to the Netherlands and reproduced their offspring were called Black Dutch. Of course they resembled Native Americans and so some NA’s would pass themselves off as such. I’m sad that my ancestors felt the need to hide who they were, but I am proud to be what I am.
That’s interesting…If he really was Black Dutch and not really NA I bet you could trace his parents or his own Ellis island immigrant records…it seems like they would have had to pass through some sort of place like that in the late 1700’s to later 1800’s?
Oh we know he was NA not Black Dutch. My Grandfather told me about his Grandmother often, his Grandfather just didn’t want to register.