| . |
At some point in the late 1960's and early 1970's there arose a renewed interest in the culture and treatment of the American Indian. Maybe it was the American Indian Movement and the conflict at Wounded Knee. Or, maybe it was new discoveries about General Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, whatever the reason, it was now OK to have an Indian ancestry. My parents had told me that I was part Cherokee, but it never meant much during the early years of my life. During my grammer and elementary school days my best friend was a boy by the name of Clifford Schock. Clifford was half Sioux, his mother was a full blood. Clifford to some extent was tormented because of his Indian blood, some of the children called him 'halfbreed', but they called me 'damned californian', so he & I were on equal footing. I cannot ever remember even thinking about Cliffords bloodline. I saw Clifford, not by the blood he carried, but as my friend and companion. I admired Clifford for his skills and talents. Clifford taught me to run and jump, to track and stalk game. He was my hero. I never could jump as high or run as fast or approach a rabbit or bird like he could. It never occurred to me that our heritage could be so close. Twenty years later as a contractor to the State of Montana, it became conducive for me to investigate the possibilities of my Indian Heritage. Federal and State law required that Native American contractors be allowed a 10% bidding advantage. In other words, if I could prove my heritage, I could be 10% high on a bid and still get the job. I must admit greed was my motivating factor in beginning my search, but something happened along the way. During this time I received the book "Walk in my Soul' a historical novel about the Cherokee Nation, by, I believe, Lucia St. Claire Brown. It taught me how the Cherokee after first resisting the white man, adopted his ways. By the late 1700's most took English names. A half blood with the English name George Gist, uneducated in English, created a written Cherokee language based on syllables. His Indian name, Sequoyah. I learned how the Cherokee
were farmers in Georgia and North Carolina, and created a constitutional government
in 1827 that was recognized by the US government. This adoption of the white
mans culture was not to help them though, because of the greed of the Georgians,
and ignoring the United States Supreme Court, the state government evicted
15,000 Cherokee from their lands, raided their property, Was this my history? In 1983 I received a much copied,
faded family history
page compiled by Lena Roberts. I began contacting all of the relatives I knew and while they all had heard the story of Amanda Cross, the Indian ancestry being fairly well accepted among the family, none had documented proof. I contacted the Cherokee Tribe in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, all to no avail. They had no records of Cross's or Gadberry's. The trail had quickly disappeared. Some twelve years later with the advent of the PC computer and genealogy computer programs my interest was rekindled to record the history I had compiled and I renewed again my search for Amanda's ancestry. In an internet search I found the website of the "Cherokee Messenger". It had a great deal of information on how to search out an indian heritage, but provided this warning. "In the early part of this century, there were many economical reasons for leaving your Native ancestry unclaimed. A "guardian" was assigned to full-bloods to help them in managing affairs. More often than not, the "guardian" benefited more than the Indian. Women were discouraged from registering by their Anglo husbands, especially if they were living outside the Indian Territory. Voting was a privilege denied Native Americans and women until 1924. The reasons can be as different as the phases of the moon, yet all had merit to that person at that time in history" (italics mine). It continued, "In 1976 , Cherokee voters ratified a new Cherokee Constitution which changed the way of measuring tribal membership. At that time, it was determined that anyone who could trace direct descent form the Dawes Roll, a census taken between 1902-1907, could become a registered citizen of the Cherokee Nation." Could it be that easy? Since Amanda died about 1899 she wouldn't be on the Dawes Roll but, if John Daniels, her son or any other of her children had registered, we had proof. But, a search of that roll turned up no Gadberry or Cross individuals. I looked under all possible pronunciations and spellings. One relative suggested that Amanda's last name was Crause or Krause, even though her marriage certificate to Alfred Gadberry her name was spelled Cross, I looked anyway, even those turned up nothing. Amanda & John's marriage certificate The Cherokee Messenger provided an additional list of the various Indian Census Rolls taken by the Government going back to 1817. The following is a list of those census's. 1817-Reservation Roll
After a complete search of each census, only on one, the 1817 Emigration Roll did I find mention of any family name. There was a single listing of "Cross, woman". Since Amanda was born in 1824, this could have been her mother, but if so, she must have been already married to have the Cross name, and where was her husband. And why if they were settling in Arkansas did they end up in Kentucky seven years later where Amanda was born. I have been unable to find any further information about this individual. The Dawes Roll came about as a solution to the 'indian assimilation problem'. Senator Henry Dawes was assigned as head of a commission to dissolve the tribal governments, and distribute the lands among the indian citizens. In June of 1898 despite the objections of the tribes, congress passed the Curtis act, which established the Indian Census called the Dawes Roll. This roll encompassed the five Civilized Tribes, the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw and Chickasaw. The Dawes Roll was to become the official indian enrollment census for each of the tribes. Supposedly, when everyone was counted, the tribal lands were to be distributed to the individual indians. The allowances though did not equal tribal holdings so whatever was left over was confiscated by the government and sold to settlers, and the railroads, at a deep discount. Would you have taken part in such a robbery? It becomes much easier to understand why our ancestors chose not to take a part in such a farce. After spending hundreds of hours in my endeavor I have come to the conclusion that If Amanda was Cherokee, she and her family chose not to participate in such a land grand and did not record that information. It is probably impossible, without further discoveries, to prove Amanda's heritage. While I regret that, I must say that I understand. The American Indian was looked down upon, even into the early 1960's, as I had learned as a friend of Clifford. I choose to believe that as Amanda's great-great-grandson, I also carry her Cherokee Ancestry. Her children told their children, and so on, down four generations to me. All of them believed it, and so do I, because I want to. Not because it is popular or even romantic, but I, in my search have learned of the Cherokee people, their willingness and ability to adapt when so many others couldn't. Their ingenuity and intelligence, and ability to survive oppression, inspire me. And most of all, my maternal Grandfather, Lee Floyd, was one-fourth Cherokee, and he was one of the kindest men I have ever known, I believe, I would have liked my Cherokee ancestors. If you would like to learn about Cherokee history, you might read: *Encyclopedia Britannica: subjects,
Cherokee, Trail of Tears, Sequoyah. You may contact Cherokee Cousins
at: The Cherokee Cultural Society
of Houston
|
burned their homes, and then gathered the Cherokee into camps. During
the years of 1838-1840 these people were led on a forced march to the "Indian
Territories", during this march over 4,000 Cherokee, almost one in
three, died. This injustice became known as the "The Trail of Tears."
