List of people of self-identified Cherokee ancestry

This list of self-identified people of Cherokee ancestry includes notable people who have stated that they have some Cherokee ancestry but are not enrolled citizens of any of the three Cherokee tribes.

C[edit]

Asa Earl Carter, speechwriter and member of the Ku Klux Klan, attempted to reinvent himself as Cherokee author under the name "Forrest Carter"^[1]^[2]
Johnny Cash, singer; believed he had Cherokee heritage but dropped the claim after he had his genealogy checked and none was found
Ward Churchill, author and professor; claims to be Cherokee-Muscogee Creek^[3]^[4]^[5]
Jeff Davis Cypert, "Chief Tahachee" (1904–1978), actor ^[6]

D[edit]

Johnny Depp, actor; has "guessed" that he has Cherokee, "or maybe Creek," heritage.^[7]^[8]
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author;^[9]^[10] used to claim to be Cheyenne^[11]

F[edit]

Four Arrows (Don Trent Jacobs, born 1946), professor, writer^[12]

H[edit]

Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970), musician, singer, and songwriter^[13]
Jamake Highwater, author; falsely stated he was of Cherokee-Blackfeet^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]

J[edit]

James Earl Jones, actor; identifies as being of Cherokee and Choctaw descent through his maternal grandmother^[18]^[19]

L[edit]

Sylvester Clark Long (Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance, 1890–1932), actor, author, journalist^[20]

N[edit]

Willie Nelson, singer-songwriter, marijuana entrepreneur^[21]^[22]
Chuck Norris, actor^[23]

S[edit]

Selena (1971–1995), singer^[24]
Leon Polk Smith, Modernist painter^[25]

T[edit]

Quentin Tarantino, film director^[26]

Notes[edit]

↑ Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson, ed. Who's Who? Hoaxes, Imposture and Identity Crises in Australian Literature. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2004: 16-17. Retrieved 26 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-7022-3523-8 Search this book on ..
↑ Bataille, Gretchen M. American Indian Representations. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001: 49. Retrieved 26 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-8032-1312-8 Search this book on ..
↑ Richardson, Valerie. Report on Conclusion of Preliminary Review in the Matter of Professor Ward Churchill. Archived 2012-06-29 at the Wayback Machine University of Colorado at Boulder. 2005 . Retrieved 26 July 2009.
↑ Brown, Thomas. "Is Ward Churchill the New Michael Bellesiles?" George Mason University's History News Network. 14 March 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
↑ Harjo, Suzan Shown. "Ward Churchill: The White Man's Burden." Indian Country Today. 3 August 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
↑ Raheja, Michelle H. (2010). Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. n.p. ISBN 978-0-8032-3445-1. Search this book on
↑ "Disney Exploiting Confusion About Whether Depp Has Indian Blood". June 17, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
↑ "Is 'Tonto's Giant Nuts' a Good Name for Johnny Depp's Band?". Indian Country Today Media Network. May 22, 2013.
↑ Flanders, Laura (October 14, 2014). "From Indigenous Socialism to Colonial Capitalism, Examining Native History of a Settler State". Truthout.
↑ Cornelius, Sloane (September–October 2016). "Caged by Myths". Native Peoples. 29 (5): 46.
↑ Tóth, György Ferenc (2017). From Wounded Knee to Checkpoint Charlie: The Alliance for Sovereignty Between American Indians and Central Europeans in the Late Cold War. New York: State University of New York Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-4384-61229. Search this book on
↑ "Unlearning the Language of Conquest." University of Texas Press. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
↑ Shapiro, Harry; Glebbeek, Caesar (1995). Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy (Updated ed.). St. Martin's Press. pp. 5–6, 13. ISBN 0-312-13062-7. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Search this book on
↑ Nagel, Joane. American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture. Oxford: University of Oxford Press, 1996: 238. ISBN 978-019512063-9 Search this book on ..
↑ Hoxie, Frederick E. Encyclopedia of North American Indians: Native American History, Culture, and Life From Paleo-Indians to the Present. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006: 191-2. Retrieved 26 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-395-66921-1 Search this book on .
↑ Weaver, Jace. Other Words: American Indian Literature, Law, and Culture. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001: 138. Retrieved 27 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-8061-3352-2 Search this book on .
↑ Jacobs, Alex. "Fool's Gold: The Story of Jamake Highwater, the Fake Indian Who Won't Die". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
↑ Levesque, Carl (1 August 2002). "Unconventional wisdom: James Earl Jones speaks out". Association Management. The Gale Group. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
↑ "James Earl Jones on his 'racist grandmother'", interview with Stephen Sackur, BBC News, December 7, 2011.
↑ Barbara Smith (2011). Hoaxes and Hexes: Daring Deceptions and Mysterious Curses. Toronto, ON: Heritage House Publishing Co. Ltd., page 56.
↑ Nelson, Willie; Shrake, Edwin (2000). Willie : an autobiography. New York: Cooper Square Press. p. 49. ISBN 9781461661313. OCLC 671560482. Search this book on
↑ Nelson, Willie; Ritz, David (2015). It's a long story : my life. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 13. ISBN 9780316403559. OCLC 915374737. Search this book on
↑ Chuck, Norris. "Against All Odds: My Story". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
↑ Patoski, p. 20
↑ Buck, Robert T. "Personal Recollections and Some Observations on Selected Paintings". Leon Polk Smith Foundation. Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ Bernard, Jami (1995). Quentin Tarantino : the man and his movies (1st. U.S. ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-06-095161-0. Search this book on

External links[edit]

"Your Great-Great Grandmother Wasn't a Cherokee," Indian Country Today Media Network via Internet Archive
Going 'Native': Why Are Americans Hijacking Cherokee Identity?
"Why Do So Many Americans Think They Have Cherokee Blood?", Slate

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[who-1] Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson, ed. Who's Who? Hoaxes, Imposture and Identity Crises in Australian Literature. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2004: 16-17. Retrieved 26 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-7022-3523-8 Search this book on ..

[2] Bataille, Gretchen M. American Indian Representations. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001: 49. Retrieved 26 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-8032-1312-8 Search this book on ..

[3] Richardson, Valerie. Report on Conclusion of Preliminary Review in the Matter of Professor Ward Churchill. Archived 2012-06-29 at the Wayback Machine University of Colorado at Boulder. 2005 . Retrieved 26 July 2009.

[4] Brown, Thomas. "Is Ward Churchill the New Michael Bellesiles?" George Mason University's History News Network. 14 March 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2009.

[5] Harjo, Suzan Shown. "Ward Churchill: The White Man's Burden." Indian Country Today. 3 August 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2009.

[6] Raheja, Michelle H. (2010). Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. n.p. ISBN 978-0-8032-3445-1. Search this book on

[exploiting-7] "Disney Exploiting Confusion About Whether Depp Has Indian Blood". June 17, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013.

[ICTnuts-8] "Is 'Tonto's Giant Nuts' a Good Name for Johnny Depp's Band?". Indian Country Today Media Network. May 22, 2013.

[9] Flanders, Laura (October 14, 2014). "From Indigenous Socialism to Colonial Capitalism, Examining Native History of a Settler State". Truthout.

[10] Cornelius, Sloane (September–October 2016). "Caged by Myths". Native Peoples. 29 (5): 46.

[11] Tóth, György Ferenc (2017). From Wounded Knee to Checkpoint Charlie: The Alliance for Sovereignty Between American Indians and Central Europeans in the Late Cold War. New York: State University of New York Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-4384-61229. Search this book on

[12] "Unlearning the Language of Conquest." University of Texas Press. Retrieved 18 July 2012.

[13] Shapiro, Harry; Glebbeek, Caesar (1995). Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy (Updated ed.). St. Martin's Press. pp. 5–6, 13. ISBN 0-312-13062-7. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Search this book on

[14] Nagel, Joane. American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture. Oxford: University of Oxford Press, 1996: 238. ISBN 978-019512063-9 Search this book on ..

[15] Hoxie, Frederick E. Encyclopedia of North American Indians: Native American History, Culture, and Life From Paleo-Indians to the Present. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006: 191-2. Retrieved 26 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-395-66921-1 Search this book on .

[16] Weaver, Jace. Other Words: American Indian Literature, Law, and Culture. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001: 138. Retrieved 27 June 2012. ISBN 978-0-8061-3352-2 Search this book on .

[17] Jacobs, Alex. "Fool's Gold: The Story of Jamake Highwater, the Fake Indian Who Won't Die". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved 19 June 2015.

[18] Levesque, Carl (1 August 2002). "Unconventional wisdom: James Earl Jones speaks out". Association Management. The Gale Group. Retrieved 2009-10-13.

[bbc-19] "James Earl Jones on his 'racist grandmother'", interview with Stephen Sackur, BBC News, December 7, 2011.

[20] Barbara Smith (2011). Hoaxes and Hexes: Daring Deceptions and Mysterious Curses. Toronto, ON: Heritage House Publishing Co. Ltd., page 56.

[21] Nelson, Willie; Shrake, Edwin (2000). Willie : an autobiography. New York: Cooper Square Press. p. 49. ISBN 9781461661313. OCLC 671560482. Search this book on

[22] Nelson, Willie; Ritz, David (2015). It's a long story : my life. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 13. ISBN 9780316403559. OCLC 915374737. Search this book on

[bookref1-23] Chuck, Norris. "Against All Odds: My Story". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved October 11, 2009.

[24] Patoski, p. 20

[25] Buck, Robert T. "Personal Recollections and Some Observations on Selected Paintings". Leon Polk Smith Foundation. Missing or empty |url= (help)

[26] Bernard, Jami (1995). Quentin Tarantino : the man and his movies (1st. U.S. ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-06-095161-0. Search this book on

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