Cherokee Grandmothers

indlangprj@aol.com
Wed, 13 Sep 1995 10:55:30 -0400

[ This being a mailing list designed for discussing matters pertaining to
language, I don't want to encourage much in the way of further exchange
on this topic - if anyone wants to talk about it, it's best to use the
NATCHAT list for that purpose. However, maybe someone here would like
to get in touch with Chuck (indlangprj@aol.com) to offer him the benefit
of your own experience - remember that replying to this message will send
to the posting address for NAT-LANG, so you'll need to manually address a
message to Chuck. --Gary (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ]

On Thu, 7 Sep 1995, a-haugo@students.uiuc.edu (Ann M Haugo) wrote:

> ...the strongest Cherokee presence in the play becomes, by the
> fourth play of the nine play cycle, "the Cherokee grandmother"
> to the white American family, fitting perfectly into the
> definitions of that type set by both Vine Deloria, Jr., and
> Rayna Green...

Does anybody know how "the Cherokee grandmother" stereotype (or
whatever it's called) started?

My grandmother (father's mother) really was Cherokee (honest!),
and I get strange looks from people when they find out, like "Oh
yeah, you and everyone else has a Cherokee grandmother." This
gets very annoying, so I usually don't say anything or just say
"Cherokee descent" without getting specific. Living on the
Hualapai Rez in Arizona, I don't hear this at all--almost everyone
here has a Hualapai or Havasupai grandmother. :-)

A footnote: ironically, my grandmother married a White guy named
Andrew Jackson Coker. Andrew Jackson, in my opinion, was the most
anti-Indian president in U.S. history, especially for the
Cherokee.

Chuck

-----
Chuck Coker
Indigenous Languages Project /\_/\
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