![]() Even if they could, they would not satisfy criteria for tribal citizenship, which demands direct descendancy from individuals listed in historic government “Indian rolls.” The tests are unreliable and can’t prove genetic affiliation with individual tribes. The advent of do-it-yourself DNA test kits has made things worse, said Cornsilk. “For recognized Cherokee, we don’t use names like this. “To give themselves ‘Indian’ cache, they appoint ‘chiefs’ and give themselves outrageously ridiculous Indian names,” said Cornsilk. More than 200 unrecognized tribes that claim to be Cherokee exist across the country, some of them selling fraudulent tribal ID cards, representing “Native culture” to non-Natives, and selling counterfeit “Native art.” “But then they start calling themselves ‘tribes.’” “It’s really not that big of a deal for people to come together and discuss their common beliefs and history,” said David Cornsilk, historian and genealogist, and citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee. Detail from 2010 Federal Census form in which citizens may now claim more than one racial identity
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