# What's your tribe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898 "2010-12-31T01:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/41 "2011-01-04T17:21:21Z")
I’m an actual Indian. The kind with dots. Does that count? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/42 "2011-01-04T18:22:30Z")
If you’re asked what kind of Indian you are, you reply “dot, not feather” ;). ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/43 "2011-01-04T18:27:58Z")
1/16 native american here except that I don’t know if it’s Cherokee or Lumbee. It was not the kind of thing one advertised in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/44 "2011-01-04T19:17:52Z")
Either the tribe of Judah or the tribe of Benjamin. They didn’t keep good records back then. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/45 "2011-01-04T19:35:24Z")
Grandpa was 1/4 Cherokee, making me 1/16. Grandpa, Mom and her older sister all had the high cheekbones and dark skin. I am a redhead. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/46 "2011-01-04T20:19:56Z")
I’m loosely affiliated with the [10,000 Maniacs](http://www.amazon.com/My-Tribe-10-000-Maniacs/dp/B000002H4S). ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/47 "2011-01-06T20:58:16Z")
My great-great grandmother was Minnetaree. I’ve tried to learn more about her, but the oldest surviving member of that side of the family is my mom, and all she knows is that her English name was Belle, that her husband immigrated here from Scotland, and that his last name was Smith. Not a whole lot to go on. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/48 "2011-01-06T21:00:21Z")
my daughters are Blackfeet. I’m nothing. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/49 "2011-01-10T03:08:57Z")
My mother always maintained that we were part Native American, and took immense pride in it. She even know that it was her great great something mother. As an adult I realized that Mom was “confused” about many things, so I had a mitochondrial RNA analysis done. MRNA is passed down from females to their offspring, so if I was part Cherokee or Chickasaw (names changed over the years of my youth), I should have markers on my MRNA that put me into halotypes that are found in Native Americans. Holotypes are groups of persons sharing a common female ancestor in this case, and so can be said to be related to some greater or very lesser degree. Ooops! My halotype is K, which is not found in Native Americans. I was finally able to put this one to rest for me and my sons. On the other hand, my halotype is found in NW Europe across to the middle east, and is especially common in Jews. And it is shared with Stephan Coulbert and Katie Couric…and Otzi the Iceman. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/50 "2011-01-10T03:13:13Z")
My husband is 1/2 Piute, the majority of his family living in Benton CA (Between Bishop and Mammoth). ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/51 "2011-01-10T04:29:13Z")
A little less than a third Chippewa Cree. Born on the Rez. I was taught Ojibwe by my grandmother and I have a very limited vocabulary in a few of the Cree variants. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/52 "2011-01-10T04:40:21Z")
Somewhere in my kids’ father’s family there is Seminole. Their dad had some native american characteristics and so does my daughter, but my son looks more like me. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/53 "2011-01-10T08:24:12Z")
I’m 1/4 Caddo, via my mom’s mom. Mom is registered, I’m not, which is rather ridiculous on a technical level, but because I’ve never lived near the Nation and my grandmother died when I was quite young, I’ve never felt a real connection and don’t particularly identify as Indian. One day I’d like to learn more about that part of my family, I have cousins and I believe a living great aunt still who are Oklahoma and I keep meaning to go in search. One day. > [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I’ve voluntarily joined the Jewish tribe. That goes for me too, and that’s been a more important aspect of my identity and my life than my Caddo connection. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/54 "2011-01-10T08:32:24Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Hope this isn’t a hijack. > > [Kāi Tahu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C4%81i_Tahu), Te Runanga o Otakou, though I was brought up in Kati Huirapa ki Puketeraki. My ancestry has a direct lineage to the most important families of our cultural history, and my family tree can be traced back to creation, which is a somewhat peculiar notion. HOW FUCKING AWESOME IS THAT??? You and the Emperor of Japan! That is TOTALLY WAY COOL!!! ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/55 "2011-01-11T01:09:40Z")
Cherokee but can’t prove it. Mr. Panda is part Cherokee and Shawnee. So how many of you have bumps on the back of your teeth? I do but never knew it was anything out of the ordinary until I had Mr. Panda feel my teeth one day and he was all “WTF?” ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/56 "2011-01-11T14:24:09Z")
I’m part Cherokee in there somewhere, though you definitely wouldn’t know it by looking at me. I don’t know exactly how much off-hand, but I know I have enough that my little sister is part of the Cherokee nation in Oklahoma. It gave her the opportunity to go for some scholarships or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/57 "2011-01-13T12:39:52Z")
Some of my ancestral units lived along the Penobscot River in Maine, and my aunt claims we are part Penobscot, though without hard evidence. I have the paternal DNA kit lying around but even if I do ever muster the courage to take a cheek swab, any Penobscot blood likely came courtesy of a squaw. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/58 "2011-01-13T13:12:13Z")
Rumor has it that my siblings and I are 1/64 Choctaw. A great-ancestor wandered alone into Choctaw territory and years later came out with several small children in tow; it’s assumed he didn’t get them out of a vending machine. I don’t think I look particularly Native American, but my brother and I do have very sparse facial hair and can’t really grow beards, so maybe there’s something to it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898/59 "2011-01-14T03:26:59Z")
Probably Judah, maybe Benjamin too. Wait, wrong set of tribes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-tribe/565898.md?page=2)