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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2000-07 > 0964123257


From: Francisco Antonio Doria <>
Subject: Re: Royal Descent of Americans
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 20:00:57 -0000


7/20/00 4:14 PM John P. DuLong remarked:

>This is where people claim to descend from a daughter of a chief.
>Often the tribe is Cherokee, Mohawk, or Chippewa. What is interesting about
>this is that the daughter of a chief was not a princess and had no
>particular prestige in most tribes. This is a way for Whites to ground
>their ancestry in America and claim royal ancestry at the same time. See
>Vine Deloria's _Custer Died for Your Sins_ (1969) for a discussion of this
>theme. I am always amazed at how many Americans claim Indian ancestry from
>a princess, far more than claim European royal descent.

We have three groups of old colonists with Amerindian blood: those
descended from Jerônimo de Albuquerqie and Maria do Arcoverde (he had
royal ancestry, and she was a native); from Diogo Alvares Caramuru and
Katherine du Brézil (she was thus baptized in France in 1528) and from
João Ramalho and his native companion.

These ancestries are highly valued in Brazil.

>
>Whether Indian or royal descent, the biggest problem is the lack of sound
>genealogical research to back up these claims. It has been my experience
>that it is very easy to make these claims but expensive and time consuming
>to verify them. In fact, I would suggest that verifying an Indian ancestry
>is often far more difficult than finding that royal gateway ancestor.
>
>P.S. This race to claim native ancestry does not always happen in former
>colonies. For instance, I remember reading a few decades ago about a
>genealogist in South Africa who found that several prominent Afrikaner
>families had Black ancestresses. His work was not appreciated to say the
>least. I wonder how Australians and New Zeelanders embrace their native
>ancestry? I believe most Canadians with native ancestry are comfortable
>with it but do not brag about it like Americans.

I have recently posted my Afro-Brazilian line to the Brazil-L and
Portugal-L lists. It is as well documented as my Doria ancestry...

>
>JP

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