My great-great-grandmother was a Cherokee princess--
no, actually, not.
But this may be the most common genealogy myth
that gets passed down from generation to generation--
that someone in your family believes
they are part Native American.
Now it might be true, but it might not.
So approach this family tale with a bit of skepticism.
First, if your family story states
that you are descended from a Cherokee princess,
that isn't true.
There were no princesses in the Cherokee tribe or in any other.
Now, it's possible that they were referring
to the daughter of a chief or some other important person
within a tribe.
But they wouldn't have called her a princess.
Now, if you're interested in other theories
on Native American royalty, I recommend
"Why Your Great-Grandmother Wasn't
a Cherokee Princess" for ideas on how that legend came to be.
So how do you prove or disprove the Native American family
story?
You start with a DNA test.
If the family story is true, ancestry
will identify you as being part Native American.
But to identify who that ancestor is
and what tribe they came from will require good genealogy
research, just like you would do for anyone in your tree.
Also, depending on how far back your Native American ancestor
is in your tree, well, there may not
be enough of their DNA to identify.
Let's say you've been told that your great-great-grandmother
was a quarter Cherokee.
It was her grandparent that was 100% Native American.
And that would be your fourth great-grandparent.
Now, to make this easy, let's divide by two
for every generation to see how much you have
of your fourth great-grandparent's DNA, who,
as a Native American, comes in at 100%.
His or her child, your third great-grandparent,
has 50% Native American DNA.
Their child, your great-great-grandparent,
comes in at 25%.
So their child has 12.5% and your grandparent has 6.25%.
Now this leaves your mom or dad with 3.125% Native American
DNA.
So how much of your fourth great-grandmother's DNA
are you likely to have?
Probably around 1.5625%, and that may not
be enough to detect Native American ethnicity.
So if DNA tells you yes, you can believe the family story.
And if it tells you no, well, you just
need to do more genealogy research
to locate that Native American family member who's outside
of the range of a DNA test.
I recommend Ancestry's Native American Research Guide
and Paula Stuart-Warren's course,
"Native American Ancestry--
Steps to Learn More" on Ancestry Academy.