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The True Story of Pocahontas
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The Pocahontas Exception
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Very interesting topic.I found this article:
http://time.com/5141434/virginia-indi...
They were proud of their Native American heritage, but they were also adamant that they were white, and had to reconcile that idea with the widespread desire among the Virginia elite for the Commonwealth to be the nation’s leading example of racial purity.
I think proud is not the correct term for this, it sounds to me as if they only wanted their slice of fame. A famous name in their family tree seems to be what they were aiming for. Hypocritical.
Mod
I found this article:
http://time.com/5141434/virginia-indi...
They were proud of their Native American heritage, but they were also adama..."
Definitely hypocritical! But then, let's face it, introducing racial purity laws is odd to say the least, deeply damaging actually, in the first place.
On other news, BIA sounds good, right? Bureau of Indian Affairs... they must be the good guys, right?
... I've never heard anyone say this ever... (Native I mean)
MeerderWörter wrote: "On other news, BIA sounds good, right? Bureau of Indian Affairs... they must be the good guys, right?... I've never heard anyone say this ever... (Native I mean) ..."
Just give it a fancy name, sounding like they are there to help when actually it was created to help the government negotiate trade and treaties and assimilate Native Americans into the white culture :-/
Mod
... I've never heard anyone say this ever... (Native I mean) ..."
Just g..."
Yes, fancy names and everything, but not making up promises in the same breath...
The thing is, racial purity laws have existed around the world, here in Austria and Germany too, in the not so distant past... and they are never good, they always bring hurt and despair and anger in the end...
What is the worst in all of this though, is that Indigenous people don't measure ancestry and being who you are by blood quantum, but by relations - who are you related to? Where do you come from? Who are your ancestors? Where did you grow up? Not by means of blood quantum, at least not traditionally...
Eugenics laws were rather popular in the US in the beginning of the 20th century, but many First Families of Virginia claimed being descendants of Pocahontas, so that's why the Pocahontas exception was introduced:
If you were 1/16 Native American, you were still considered white...