There has been a myth circulating in our family that one of our great, great (I forget how many "greats") grandmothers was a native American who "came down the river in a boat" with our g-g-g-grandfather (who owned the boat and was NOT a native American), then took on the name "Mary" and had a family. I held on to that myth most of my li…
There has been a myth circulating in our family that one of our great, great (I forget how many "greats") grandmothers was a native American who "came down the river in a boat" with our g-g-g-grandfather (who owned the boat and was NOT a native American), then took on the name "Mary" and had a family. I held on to that myth most of my life because it gave me a tiny sense of pleasure to think that I just MIGHT have a bonafide credential of being able to consider myself native to this land. That myth was completely shattered when I succumbed to the temptation of one of those DNA tests. There's not a shred of native American in us. Not a shred. Every one of us came from immigrants - and now I know the full story. To confirm it, I took a SECOND DNA test - and yeppers - same history. Same countries. So your stories are my stories too. Although the paths might have been different, my ancestors fled whatever they needed to flee for self preservation. How dare any of us turn away others fleeing for their very lives. How dare we!
There has been a myth circulating in our family that one of our great, great (I forget how many "greats") grandmothers was a native American who "came down the river in a boat" with our g-g-g-grandfather (who owned the boat and was NOT a native American), then took on the name "Mary" and had a family. I held on to that myth most of my life because it gave me a tiny sense of pleasure to think that I just MIGHT have a bonafide credential of being able to consider myself native to this land. That myth was completely shattered when I succumbed to the temptation of one of those DNA tests. There's not a shred of native American in us. Not a shred. Every one of us came from immigrants - and now I know the full story. To confirm it, I took a SECOND DNA test - and yeppers - same history. Same countries. So your stories are my stories too. Although the paths might have been different, my ancestors fled whatever they needed to flee for self preservation. How dare any of us turn away others fleeing for their very lives. How dare we!