"Queen Chief Warhorse, Tchufuncta Nation, Chahta Tribe" Elwin Green Gillum

[Epiphany]

Read Debbie Reese's post on Queen Chief Warhorse: http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/04/queen-chief-warhorse-tchufuncta-nation.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR_2p6OMXoA

Queen Chief Elwin Warhorse Gillium of Tchefuncta Nation  http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2011/01/indian_queen_warhorse_speaks_a.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/chahta-indians-coming-out-of-exile

[educatedindian]

At one point they were called the St Tammany Chahta.

This groups says they are a branch of the Choctaw left behind during the Trail of Tears, also to have been a nation of Black/NDN mixedbloods in Florida. It may be some have NDN ancestry, wouldn't be unusual.

But it doesn't help their case when they dress up as Mardi Gras Indians. In fact they seem to have been a Mardi Gras group as recently as this February.
http://www.examiner.com/article/mardi-gras-parade-schedule-new-orleans-surrounding-areas

One of the links says they have 100 members. They also have a website still under construction.

One of the Neville Bros is their "ambassador."
http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2009/10/cyril_neville_named_ambassador.html

[Epiphany]

http://www.nola.com/community/st-tammany/index.ssf/2011/05/chahta_tribes_work_for_2010_ce.html

Members of the Tchefuncta Nation, made up of the descendents of 125 families of Chahta, Cherokee and Creek ancestry

Still, “All my Indians were not counted,” she said. “We lost people. Those who call themselves Creole, or multiple races, it divides people and all those get counted in the ‘other’ category,” on the census, rather than as American Indians, she said.

“But, the census bureau did all they could,” Gillum said. What changed this count, is that the U.S. Census Bureau allowed people to identify themselves and really count the Indian nations, she said. American Indians could claim who they are, as well as record their tribal affiliation.

The Tchefuncta Nation was provided a three-digit code for its members to use on the census forms. This will allow them to track the count of members who reside in about 30 states. Only people who had their paperwork in order and confirmed their affiliation with the tribe, were given the code.

This article reads like a sales pitch for the group.

[amorYcohetes]

Ha! I follow Racialicious on Twitter and was just tonight tracing back the surprisingly comprehensive, impromptu Twitter Teach-In that unfolded as Racialicious live-tweeted the Kellog Foundation's "America Healing" conference under the hashtag #racialequity.  It seems to actually have been a non-attendee, the Blackfeet/Suquamish author-attorney Gyasi Ross (who has been mentioned on these boards for his new book Don't Know Much About Indians, But I Wrote A Book About Us Anyways) who first sounded the alarm.  Looks like the upshot is he was invited to and accepted the offer to write an article for their blog.  Can't wait!

[Epiphany]

I've been following some of the #racialequity conference twitter stream now too. I watched more Queen Chief Warhorse videos last night also. Really look forward to Gyasi Ross's article.

I think Queen Chief Warhorse is playing Indian and encouraging others to do so also. Included in that playing Indian is merging Mardi Gras Indians festival activities with "we are an actual historical tribe". If I was her publicist I'd encourage her to dress differently at conference type events - she has a pseudo multi-tribal thing going on and it sets off red flags for some viewers.

Personally I think she might have a sort of personality cult in the making. People who are feeling lost can be told that they've been found by their tribe. She works for tight group unity and is dismissive about some other actual tribes.

I'm all for people researching their genealogy and the history of a place. I think Ms. Elwin Gillum could start a heritage community group that doesn't claim to be a current tribe. She and others could be role models for people of distant Indian ancestry on how to research their genealogy and on how to then not misuse that information.

I can see how fake tribes can be really appealing to folks. We are told that we've been found by our long lost tribe, that our sense of rootlessness and lostness has a cure, that we now have a firm foundation to stand on and an answer to all our questions.

The Tchefuncta Nation is made up of different tribes, bands and clans with members concentrated along the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida. Members are descendent of those who did not move onto reservations in Oklahoma under the Dancing Rabbit Creek Treaty of 1830 and who escaped what came to be known as the Trail of Tears.

White House pays Tchefuncta Nation visit in its 'White House' http://www.nola.com/community/st-tammany/index.ssf/2011/11/white_house_pays_tchefuncta_na.html

Tchefuncta Nation, Chahta Indian Tribe http://qmsinc.biz/?p=174

[Cat]

First off Tchufuncta is a made up word... it is not a Chahta (choctaw) word. They are not a recognized group by CNO or Mississippi Chahta , and they wont be recognized. She isn't even wearing any sort of Choctaw clothing..why is she wearing a plains style dress and beadwork. The only thing she got right was the word Chahta. I think that sums it up.

[tecpaocelotl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR_2p6OMXoA

Video has been removed.

[Epiphany]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfam8m_fnV0 Most recent video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1962382774297432798 Start about 15:15 - If I'm understanding her correctly she states her nation is superior to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEULLKbUZ1o&feature=relmfu 8:16

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnXWRx_2zKM&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPpHGJcDeE 3:44 Mention of how when applying for recovery funds Queen Chief Warhorse had a complete database on all members, including their social security numbers

My concerns are about the possibility that this is a potential personality cult, drawing vulnerable people who have gone through Katrina and who seek community.

[Epiphany]

Elwin Green Gillum...and a total of 825 family members crossed over on the 2000 census from being designated as African-American to Native
American. 'It was like winning the lottery,' she said of the 0.4 percent they represented in the St. Tammany statistics. 'For the first time in 100 years we could be what our family fought and struggled so we could be.' 'We are one family, many colors,' Gillum said of her family, the descendants of Cherokee Andrew Green who was born in Georgia and died at the age of 100 in St. Tammany. The Green descendants began meeting as the St. Tammany Native American Tribe of the Florida Parishes on Oct. 12, 1998, to discuss the issue of the upcoming census. 'We kept our business to ourselves, we met as a family, it was not a public campaign,' she said, 'For nights we met, young and old, filled out the census and told stories.' While the nucleus of the family is known to them, they are now trying to reach the cousins and more distant family members to gather documentation for a tribal roll.

An American Indian Heritage Is Reclaimed," Sharon Sharpe, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), May 5, 2002, 1. Copyright 2002 The
Times-Picayune Publishing Company.

http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-amindian&month=0205&week=a&msg=H4/6dm1FG9JMOJlDHhWEQg&user=&pw=

[Epiphany]

Don’t Know Much About Indians (but i let non-indians speak for them anyways) [Point] http://www.racialicious.com/2012/05/02/dont-know-much-about-indians-but-i-let-non-indians-speak-for-them-anyways-point/

[Epiphany]

Debbie Reese http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/ brings our attention to the 3 minute mark of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnXWRx_2zKM&feature=relmfu

[Defend the Sacred]

And here's the direct link to Debbie Reese's blog about it http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/05/is-queen-chief-warhorse-native-and-who.html

[Epiphany]

If I'm following Queen Chief Warhorse right in that video: she says Choctaw stole her group's identity, copied her group, and that Choctaw aren't really Native Americans. And that Choctaw of Oklahoma are ripping the government off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnXWRx_2zKM&feature=relmfu

[Epiphany]

Add into this discussion mix a great comment by Gyasi Ross

http://www.racialicious.com/2012/05/02/dont-know-much-about-indians-but-i-let-non-indians-speak-for-them-anyways-point/#comment-517947709

Scroll down to comment beginning with:

Thank you, Dr--that's a very fair and important question.  Ultimately, the question should be "What, prophylacticly, should the Kellogg Foundation and Racialicious have done, and in the future, what should they do to ensure that they do not get hucksters pretending to be Native speaking for Native people?"

[Defend the Sacred]

The Examiner article says her given name is Elwin Green Gillum. If that is correct, I think we should add it to the title of this thread.