Let me first state my interest in this fraud named Cedric “Sunray”. My family are from three tribes in Oklahoma including the Ponca. Mr. “Sunrays” wife is part Ponca. We have to endure him at lots of venues here in Oklahoma. You have done some research, but let me tell you, I have done much more not only on him, but on numerous other frauds playing Indian. I posted about him once before after one of his articles on ICT [why do they let this guy’s words get published!], which as you mentioned are always about the same things. My post was deleted after a very short time.
I want to start with his name. I was able to find out that he changed it when he was eighteen years of age. That is probably about the time he caught “Indian fever” This guy is from Key West, Florida of all places! The history of the Sunray name comes from Europe, but I doubt seriously that he was trying to uncover some European ancestor when he changed it. His dad also used the name in an article I saw from years ago in the 1970s when I was down in Louisiana at an Indian gathering. Seems he comes from multiple generations of wannabes. In looking up people who have the Sunray surname across the United States and Europe I see that everyone of these people is white!
When I first searched his family tree I found out like you did that his father’s family is all white. While the pictures on the internet of his father may make people believe that he “looks Indian”, it is probably that his long dark hair and Key West tan have more to do with it than any Indian blood. The picture of his father in the 1970’s wearing a beaded “Indian” headband makes me want to laugh. His father’s grandfather was a preacher it turns out who preached at some of the churches of the so called MOWA “Choctaw” in Alabama. What I also found out is the reverend wasn’t “Sunrays” biological great-grandfather, though he appears on the birth certificate. The biological great-grandfather he gets his connection to this fake group from is named James Chestang. He is the son of Jerome Chastang and Cornelia Weaver. Baptist Missionary records from the 1920s show “Sunrays” grandfather Claxton Ray resided in the MOWA groups area in the 1920s with his biological father’s people for a time before he eventually went to live with his biological mom and father (the venerable preacher) who appears on his birth certificate. He was an only child. Seems great-grandma stepped out on great-grandpa. This research was verified to me directly by a member of the MOWA group when I made numerous inquiries as to how this guy was a member of their group. “Sunrays” grandfather was one of the original ones to enroll with this made up “tribe” in the early 1980s. I verified this by contacting this groups “tribal” office. That is how “Sunray” is enrolled today.
Now lets talk about the so-called MOWA “Choctaw”. The MOWA are not a real Indian tribe and the BIA makes that very clear in the denial of their federal petition. The William Pollitzer genetic study also makes it clear. They are just people that are mixed black who were trying to escape Jim Crow by saying they are Indian, like so many other fake groups in Southern and Eastern Regions of the United States. They are just like the “Lumbee” and “Chickahominy” and “Nanticoke” and other pretendian tribes. I have looked through the Indian school records that “Sunray” has on his website. While it is true that his MOWA do appear at the boarding schools as do these other groups I mentioned, it was more likely a mistake made by people who did not know better and allowed them to be admitted. This goes for the other fake tribes on this website as well. These records do show that the MOWA who went to the schools were listed in various ways as Choctaw and Cherokee. It seems this fantasy has persisted in “Sunrays” family and the MOWA group for multiple generations. Some bureaucrat must have bought into it along the way. The records of “Sunrays” great-grandfather and great-great grandparents show that they are not Choctaw or Cherokee Indians as he claims to be. His great-great-grandfather Jerome Chastang gave an application to the Eastern Cherokee Roll in 1908.
What it states is “Why were your parents not enrolled in 1851 if they were living at that time. My mother Cecile Weaver born Weatherford died in 1850. Give the fullnames of your Grandparents on both sides and [not able to read] wether any of them ever enrolled. Fathers parents I dont know. Mothers parents were Bill Weatherford and Nancy Weatherford born Fisher a Cherokee Indian [not able to read] died in 1850 about 16 days after my mother. None of my ancestors were slaves. I believe myself discend from Cherokee Indian stock from statement made to as child by my mother and Grandmother.”
“Sunray” needs to realize that just because someone claims to have some Indian in them don’t mean they do and let’s be honest just reading how this guy claimed his false Indian heritage is a dead giveaway of what the final result was. Jerome Chastang was rejected from the roll as were the many MOWA ancestors who applied. Jerome Chastang is listed in records as both white and mulatto, not INDIAN! The same goes for his wife Cornelia and his son James. “Sunrays” great-grandmother Maude Runyan is also listed as white in all records. I did see one record that lists her mother Nancy England [“Sunrays” great-great grandmother as a mulatto, but I am not sure if that is the same Nancy England] Maude’s father appears as white in all records. This part of the family is all originally from Tennessee and they moved to Alabama. How the MOWA claim that Maude Runyan is a MOWA is beyond me. I guess every mulatto that shows up in the community is made an “Indian” The fake tribal enrollment “bq” that was circulated about “Sunray” shows him as ¼ MOWA. To be on their “tribal” roll I found out you have to be ¼ MOWA. It seems to me that this guy is only 1/8 MOWA and so he shouldn’t even be on the roll anyway. I guess a 1/8 MOWA means 0/8 Indian, just like a 4/4 MOWA means 0/4 Indian. How can this group even issue a “bq”? That is my question.
Now let’s talk about his mom who is listed on her marriage records as white as you mentioned. She is from Canada and “Sunray” was born there as well. His mom from what I have read in “Sunrays” writings left Key West for the sole purpose of his birth and then returned to Key West. I have no idea of her intentions and as to why “Sunray” was born in Canada when his parents lived in Key West. Claiming to be part Scottish is probably the only true claim this guy makes. His mother comes from a place called Port Albert from what I can gather. It is in Ashfield Township in Huron County which is in Ontario, Canada. You can get information about the community at
www.portalbert175.ca Most of the people in that region came from Scotland and Ireland. Most of his mom’s family surnames are Scottish and Irish. There are lots of fakes claiming to be Metis up in Ontario now. These people are not like the real Metis in Western Canada. I looked up the information of the Metis Nation of Ontario. To be enrolled basically all you have to do is show that you descend from someone on Canada Census records that is listed as a Metis and you have to live up there. You then have to state that you are a Metis. In looking up the records of Port Albert it seems that the matriarch of the place is a woman named Mary Martin. She was the first woman settler there. I found a book Port Albert: 150 years about the community. [I think a newer version or updated version of this book is available on the Port Albert website for $65] There is no publication date but it looks to be about 30 or 40 years old. One caption reads, “…Stephen Martin and his wife Mary, a Chippewa Indian who died in 1889 at the age of 105. The Martin and Hawkins descendants still live at Port Albert.” It seems that “Sunrays” Crawford family who are also mentioned as a founding family throughout the book intermarried with the other original settler familys which include Stephen and Mary Martin’s family over the generations. But we are going way, way back here. Mary Martin’s Census Records list her birthdate as 1796! She is listed as Indian on the 1881 Census of Canada. She is listed as Metis on the Canadian Genealogy Index. Her husband is listed as French in all records. IF “Sunray” descends from this woman, he would be of very minor Indian ancestry as she was born in 1796. Besides this she may not be a full blood and may be of minor ancestry herself due to her list as Metis. I could find no other records of Indians living in Port Albert. “Sunray” does not get his Canadian First Nation enrollment from Mary Martin. The Metis Nation of Ontario has no record of his being enrolled with their more newly created organization. The Metis Nation of Ontario did not receive any form of recognition from the Canadian government until the 1990’s and they are viewed cautiously by most Canadian First Nations. “Sunrays” First Nation enrollment is another big wrinkle for him. It turns out his white mother was legally adopted by a white mother and Canadian First Nation father. Yes, the story gets stranger and stranger. Due to the status laws in Canada, any non-indian woman who married an Indian before 1985 gained Indian status. The opposite was that any Indian woman who married a non-indian man before 1985 lost their Indian status. So “Sunrays” mom’s white adoptive mom gained Indian status through marrying her Indian husband. Tribes in Canada can legally adopt children as band members. “Sunrays” mother gained Indian status this way through legal adoption. Legally adopted children of First Nation members are not supposed to be able to pass their Indian status along to their children, but somehow “Sunray” received this very status from one of the Ojibwa tribes in Ontario named Wabaseemoong through his mom. What makes things weirder is that there are Canadian First Nations today in Canada where white women who gained their Indian status through marriage are now elected leaders. While “Sunray” may be able to get enrolled with the Metis Nation of Ontario if he moved to Canada, that organization is highly questionable like the MOWA. Also, I have no definitive proof that he is a direct descendant of Mary Martin anyway. At some point “Sunrays” mother parted company with her Canadian familys and moved all the way to Key West, Florida. Records show she has maintained residence there since 1969. She would have been 19 years old I believe when she first moved there.
As far as “Sunrays” employment, I also inquired about that. To his only credit, I could find no tribe he has worked for who would admit that he was fired for being a non-indian. The reality turns out to be that he works contracts with tribes mostly in their language departments. This is probably what makes it seem as though he is being fired as he moves on to the next contract. Four of the tribes I spoke with said he has a natural ability with language. Well good for him. It seems he has a natural ability with having a big mouth as we all know who read his articles. However, I did find out that he was fired from one tribe, the Chickasaw Nation, because of the articles he writes and his combative nature. “Sunray” has been convicted in tribal court and has had other charges laid against him in other courts. All the charges deal with issues of assault and intimidation of others. Cherokee Nation council member Cara Cowan-Watts circulated an email which said he is “aggressive and violent” and that when he was tried in a tribal court years ago he stated that as a member of a Canadian First Nation and a “state recognized tribe” that he couldn’t be prosecuted in a federal court operated by a federally-recognized tribe. At the time that was legally the case but it was clearly a cop out. It seems “Sunray” is only Indian when it is convenient for him and suddenly becomes non-Indian when he may suffer the consequences. It is because of this that people such as myself feel obligated to post these truths and also have to keep anonymous for fear of retribution.
So lets sum it up and hopefully unlike Indian Country Today, my long post won’t be censored. Cedric “Sunray” changed his name to Sunray most likely to sound more Indian. He and his father’s original surname is Ray. Ray however is not even the correct paternal surname in regards to his actual biological descent. “Sunray” is most likely only 1/8 MOWA and the MOWA are not a real tribe. “Sunrays” claim to being Cherokee and Choctaw began with a fantastic story created by his great-great grandfather during his application to the Eastern Cherokee Roll in the early 1900’s. This story was rejected by officials. “Sunrays” family, like the other MOWA familys are many generation wannabes. These same sort of stories exist in almost every group in the South and East that is of mostly mixed white and black ancestry. MOWA attendance at indian boarding schools was just an administrative error that if it had been further studied would not have occurred. “Sunrays” “tribe” has been completely rejected by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a real Indian tribe. The William Pollitzer genetic study shows that they are not of Indian ancestry and a new book by Professor Mark Miller called Claiming Tribal Identity also refutes the MOWA claim to being Indian. The MOWA are mixed white and black people who claimed Indian to escape prejudice that was put upon black people in the south. “Sunrays” white mother may or may not have a minor drop of Indian ancestry but definitely not enough to allow for enrollment in a Canadian First Nation. “Sunrays” mother was legally adopted by Canadian First Nation members and that is how she and he gained Indian status or enrollment. In other words he is like the legendary country singer Shania Twain whose Indian claims were laid to rest when they found out she was adopted by her white mother’s Canadian First Nation husband. “Sunray” is not enrolled with any Metis organization and the only one who he could possibly enroll with is very questionable despite their new found recognition in Canada. “Sunray” is mostly white with some small black ancestry. It is doubtful he possesses any Indian blood. “Sunrays” knowledge of Indian people and history has been developed from his degree programs of study and travel and marrying an Indian and therefore having Indian kids, not from any Indian upbringing. He uses this marriage to further his Indian fantasy and attempt to gain legitimacy in the Indian world. The many MOWA’s who it seems have also married Indians from legitimate federally-recognized tribes are doing the same thing. I should also mention that “Sunray” [as he claims] was a student at Haskell Indian Nations University which can only be attended by members of federal tribes. While I was able to get verification of his enrollment I could not get anyone to explain to me how he became enrolled in the first place. It would seem to have been another administrative error. One of his former Haskell classmates also told me he claimed to be part Cheyenne. Oh brother.
“Sunray” believes he has pulled off the great cultural heist but sadly his Indian story and that of his “tribe” the MOWA ends here and now. For me it is a relief to finish this research and actually have a forum in which to share it. It has taken a lot of time and effort not only documenting him, but many others who are perpetrating the same old stories. I want to thank you all who run this website for exposing these frauds. “Sunray” is just one of many. I may send you more of my research on others in the future. -Real Ponca
