Trail of Tears

[kosowith]

Perhaps this is a bit picky - but are we talking about some body's GRANDmother surviving the Walk? As in mother's mother?

The only reason I ask is that the Indian Removal Act was passed in 1830. The Choctaw were the first to be moved, following the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. A big part of my family were in the first volunteer wave. For those who refused to go, most were walked between 1831-1833, The other groups (Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole,) followed soon after, but still within this 1831-1833 time line. 

There are a lot of problems with the rolls which I won't go into here and now, but I will mention that there are more rolls than Dawes - there are the Guion Miller and Baker Rolls, and the pardon lists.

However, back to the point I wanted to make, the Walk was over 160 years ago!  That is at least 8 generations ago. So the probablilty of a grandparent, or great-grandparent being alive within the past 50-60 years is very limited.

[Defend the Sacred]

And I also think Cher has something to do with it.

Yup. I agree. She used to claim a Cherokee GG grandmother. She is not Cherokee. One of my friend's called her a "Fresno Indian" because a lot of Armenian heritage people from Fresno, CA where Cher is from, would claim Indian rather than Armenian. Cher is French and Armenian. Period.

Sadly, this is what comes to mind when I think of seventies-era Cher:

1970'S CHER DOLL INDIAN MAIDEN


Also at: Cher Bob Mackie Native American Fantasy Doll

And kids all over the world soaked up those images, with no idea how wrong it was. And now lots of them turn up on the frauds list here.

What's worse, the third image: "A flowing, feathered headdress crowns her 'Half Breed' costume." appears to be from this year: The diva master: Caesars Palace is all aglitter with the star and her 17-piece wardrobe. By Booth Moore, May 18, 2008 in print edition P-3:

"Her new show is an eyeful of deliciously glittery costumes that hark back to the wonderfully tacky, pre-Celine Vegas of Liberace and feather-flocked revues. She plays... the Indian chief in a feathered headdress.... Through 17 costume changes, she shares and bares – bellybutton, hips and butt cheeks."
"A few of the greatest Cher-Mackie wardrobe hits are on display in glass cases outside the theater.... There’s ... the red Pocahontas outfit from the mid-1970s." [emphasis mine]

[Defend the Sacred]

Adding an image of the Vegas, "Half Breed" getup from 2008.