I've been teaching my 4th graders the Native American songs "Land of the Silver Birch" and "Canoe Song." I grew up and work in a part of the country where the Cherokee once reigned, so I'm among many people who have Cherokee in their ancestry. When discussing this with my classes, I had a couple of students talk about the Native American in their bloodline. While definitely plausible in our area, I was skeptical of a few fair-skinned, blonde, blue-eyed darlings who claimed to be 1/16th (or less). But, I would listen politely as they explained things like "I think my mom told me that she thinks her grandma was part Indian..." That was until Blake's story.
Blake is not one of the kids of whom I would have been skeptical. He's not an attention seeker, or a storyteller, or anything of the sort. So, I was surprised when he said "I'm 1/8th Native American... right here," pointing to his upper arm. I didn't immediately understand what he was doing so I asked for clarification. He repeated himself, this time clarifying that the 1/8th of his body that was Native American was the area between his shoulder and elbow. His face was completely serious and I couldn't help but giggle before saying "that's not how that works, dear." j
I'm no genealogist, but I'm pretty sure think one's ancestry doesn't manifest itself into particular sections of the body.
Blake is not one of the kids of whom I would have been skeptical. He's not an attention seeker, or a storyteller, or anything of the sort. So, I was surprised when he said "I'm 1/8th Native American... right here," pointing to his upper arm. I didn't immediately understand what he was doing so I asked for clarification. He repeated himself, this time clarifying that the 1/8th of his body that was Native American was the area between his shoulder and elbow. His face was completely serious and I couldn't help but giggle before saying "that's not how that works, dear." j
I'm no genealogist, but I'm pretty sure think one's ancestry doesn't manifest itself into particular sections of the body.