Back in March, I wrote an article entitled Choosing whiteness in which I reflected on ways in which a family myth of Native American ancestry influenced my early conceptions of race. Since then, I started doing research into this myth through Ancestry.com, including a DNA test. I can now say that have substantial evidence indicating that I am not, in fact, Native American. I sincerely apologize for any harm I may have caused by falsely identifying as such.
It turns out that my darker skinned ancestor likely had a hereditary condition called “hemochromatosis” — a genetic marker I share with them. A build up of iron caused by this condition causes the skin to take a bronze/gray color which would explain why this particular ancestor looks so different from the rest of the family in old photos. Photographic technology has a well established bias towards lighter skin. This is probably how the family myth came into being.
I can’t undo the harm I’ve caused by perpetuating this myth, but what I can do is share the truth as I now know it. I’ve cross-referenced my genealogy research with Native Land. What follows is the history of the lands stolen by my ancestors (to the best of my knowledge):
My earliest white ancestors mostly immigrated from England in the late 1700s. They usurped the lands of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians , Ho-de-no-sau-nee-ga (Haudenosaunee), Mohawk, and Omàmìwininìwag (Algonquin). Through the early 1800s, many of them migrated west through the lands of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee-ga (Haudenosaunee), Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Attiwonderonk (Neutral), Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and Mississauga, then eventually south through the lands of the Shoshone-Bannock. Others took a more south-western path, through lands of Mohican, 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰𐓓𐒷 𐒼𐓂𐓊𐒻 𐓆𐒻𐒿𐒷 𐓀𐒰^𐓓𐒰^(Osage), Chikashsha Yaki (Chickasaw), Cheyenne, and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute). These two paths of white ancestors eventually converge, forcibly displacing the Eastern Shoshone and Goshute.
From here, my ancestors start to migrate to the southwest. They likely travelled south through lands of the Hopi, Pueblos, Western Apache, and Hohokam on their way towards the west coast. Eventually, they settle on land stolen from the Chumash, Tongva, and Kizh.
My parents are married on Wašišiw Ɂítdeh (Washoe) land and I’m eventually born on Fernandeño Tataviam land. I was raised on the land of the Cahuilla and now reside on Chesapeake land.
I don’t know what words to offer that would ever make up for the atrocities my ancestors were complicit in, but I hope that acknowledging these tribes and the lands that were taken from them is a step in the right direction.
This whole experience has challenged a lot of my preconceptions about the relationship between my DNA and “who I am”. I’m going to do what I can to continue unpacking my own baggage in the future.