The Cherokee Princess in the Family Tree

South Polls The Cherokee Princess in the FamilyTree BY JOHN SHELTON REED One form of "race-mixing" that both black and white southerners have long viewed with unconcern or even with pride has been intermarriage (perhaps preferably in the remote past) with the South's Native American population. Southern families from the First Families of Virginia to the Presleys of Tupelo, Mississippi, have believed themselves descended from Indian ancestors, and often boasted of it. Altiiough fewer than 2 percent of southern residents responding to the Spring 1996 Southern Focus Poll replied "Native American" or "Indian" when asked "What race do you consider yourself?," 40 percent said they had Indian ancestors when asked, 45 percent said they did not, and 14 percent didn't know. Southerners are more likely to claim Indian ancestry than are nonsoutherners, only 25 percent ofwhom did so (66 percent said they had none, and 9 percent didn't know). Residents of the South are now more likely to claim descent from American Indians than from Confederate soldiers (the Fall 1994 Southern Focus Poll found that only 22 percent did the latter). Forty-four percent ofnative southerners believe themselves to have Indian ancestors , compared to 25 percent ofnative nonsoutherners; interregional migrants are intermediate. Bodi in the South and elsewhere, younger respondents are more likely than older ones—and women slighdy more likely than men—to claim Indian ancestry, but there is no consistent relation to education or income. Believing that one has Indian ancestry is especially common among black respondents : majorities both in the Soudi and elsewhere do so. All data below are from the Spring 1 996 Southern Focus Poll, conducted by the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study can be obtained from the Institute for further analysis. The poll conducted telephone interviews with some 850 respondents from a thirteen -state South (the eleven ex-Confederate states plus Kentucky and Oklahoma ) plus about half as many nonsouthern Americans for comparison. Totals may differ from 100 percent due to rounding error. m "Do you happen to know whether any of your ancestors were American Indians?" (percent replying "yes"): Southern Total40 Residence Deep South42 Peripheral South39 New England Middle Atlantic East Central West Central Mountain States Pacific Coast Lived in South less than 5 years30 6-10 years35 more than 10 years32 "all my life"44 Residence at age 16 South44 Border states43 Non-South27 Race White36 Black53 Sex Male39 Female41 Age 18-2441 25-4445 45-6437 65+27 Education 8th grade or less33 9-1135 high school grad42 some college44 college grad36 Nonsouthern 25 22 25 20 22 35 30 36 32 25 22 62 21 28 31 26 24 17 36 25 37 14 112 JOHNSHELTONREED Income less than 10,0003722 10,000-20,0004731 20,000-30,0004526 30,000-40,0004628 40,000-50,0005118 50,000-60,0003421 60,000+3319 *too few cases for stable percentage South Polls 1 1 3 ...