SeekersEye

[Ikooko Okurin]

Hello all, my name is Cayto. I'm just a 21 year old black guy very interested in his heritage *a certain few* have tried but failed to steal or destroy. When I hit 18 I became more serious in my heritage though it was a little late as my grandparents passed away by then. My grandmother on my mother's side and my great grandmother on my father's side were Native American My mother's side has stories of being of Blackfoot descent, my father's side has stories being of Tsalagi descent. No, I cannot confirm these's stories but they were told all my life and seeing some of my family members, my grandparents, and myself it's quite clear. There are other little hints such as the style of food the family always being more maternally focused even though the family is mostly male lol. Anyway all that aside I'm raised black with black traditions and that's what I identify with, but I am interested in learning more about the tribes my family talked about as well as others. I like learning, I love acquiring knowledge and truth.

My father and his mother raised me very spiritual, they we're not religious and encouraged looking withing myself for spiritual fulfillment. And they were always very nature based and concerned with being natural(to an almost annoying point sometimes lol). As a result my spirituality is something unique to me as a result of my personal experiences and upbringing. Due to my family I've been exposed to the following religions and spiritual practices Kemetan Coptic, Christianity of course, and Lukumi Santerio(An African Diaspora, nature based, spiritual practice with is's roots in west Africa)

With my little summary out of the way, why am I here? Well I decided to start researching native american tribes I started with Tsalagi and even started learning the language(still am quite difficult but I love it lol). In the process I slowly started running into all these books on "Cherokee Spirituality" and was  confused by the inconsistencies and was already familiar with frauds because of all the fake white voodoo, hoodoo, or olorisha "priest"(Olorisha are high priest of Lukumi), abusing these African practices. I started research all these authors and before I knew it I was finding everyone of them to be frauds, THEN I found out that FAKE tribes are a thing...really? -sigh-  lol Anyway I found this site and like it's purpose. It will help me in my truth seeking.

Happy to meet you all.

[Smart Mule]

Best of luck in your search Cayto. You may want to consider confirming your family stories before laying claim to any Nations :)

There's certainly a slew of folks cashing in on African and Afro-diasporic traditions, we have threads on a few.

[Ikooko Okurin]

Best of luck in your search Cayto. You may want to consider confirming your family stories before laying claim to any Nations :)

There's certainly a slew of folks cashing in on African and Afro-diasporic traditions, we have threads on a few.

Thank you for the welcome :).

My apologies, reading over I realized it may have sounded like I was trying to "claim" specific tribes and heritage with certainty and wanted to edit somethings but couldn't. I should reiterate that I am aware that these are as of right now unconfirmed stories, and that I have no interest in becoming or acting Native American. I do feel that based of the appearance of my grandparents and some other family member it's possible, I myself am mistaken for South American or Mexican too often(annoyingly so) lol. Either way I certainly have a lot of research to do and even if I do have native heritage I will always be black not native. I only wish to know Native culture frauds when I see them and to be more educated on the Native cultures as a whole.

I can say that in my short time here I've already learned a lot ^^.

[AClockworkWhite]

Welcome. And I agree with OMG. You will have to drop all your pre-conceived notions, start from scratch, do a DNA test, and go from there if you truly want to examine what you are versus what you think you are. I also had some hard comeuppance recently about family history but am a better person for it, surprisingly. If you're looking for frauds and how to spot, fight, and rid the world of, you are in THE place for it. There isn't a better repository of information nor a better research squad on the Net. Enjoy your stay.

[Ikooko Okurin]

Welcome. And I agree with OMG. You will have to drop all your pre-conceived notions, start from scratch, do a DNA test, and go from there if you truly want to examine what you are versus what you think you are. I also had some hard comeuppance recently about family history but am a better person for it, surprisingly. If you're looking for frauds and how to spot, fight, and rid the world of, you are in THE place for it. There isn't a better repository of information nor a better research squad on the Net. Enjoy your stay.

Thank you for the welcome. You are certainly right and I've been looking to do the AfricanAncesty dna site. The more I've been reading here the more I'm realizing I just may have to give my family a certain talking too lol. We are rooted in our culture but if these stories turn out to be false it's time for our folks to stop passing that along. It'll only serve to confuse the future generation's.

[Keely]

There is a story about how people who are African descent at one time called Blackfoot, but it had nothing to do with the tribe.
I was thinking about this very issue, and not trying to be disrespectful, but more and more Black peoples seem be seeking a place they feel they belong. Some reason, a lot are claiming Cherokee, but most are not.
I seen a beautiful video of a man who is trying to bring back to the people their ancestors dances... I was very moved by what he is doing, and I honestly believe your ancestors are speaking to you in doing your traditions that were taken away.
I hope that someday I can see more young Black peoples turning to their heritage and dance of their original people. I believe that your ancestors dance with you, and the people need this now more than ever!

[Ikooko Okurin]

Thank you. I know where I belong though and very connected to my African Diaspora history and culture. I am a decendent of the Yoruba peopel in Nigeria. I think it's a misconception that black people have lost connection with their roots and culture, most do still actually have that connection to where they belong be it through our unique modern culture or the older traditional ways more connected to the mother land. However if there are other aspects to my heritage, I enjoy the journey of finding that out. If the stories aren't true, I learned more about my own history and other cultures in the process :). Still I agree that there are more and more being called to connect with their roots and it's a beautiful time. We definitely need more of our people looking to connect.

[Ikooko Okurin]

Not that I'm important enough that people would need to know this lol, but I've changed my name to Ikooko Okurin. Couldn't decide which of my aliases I wanted to use before. Thanks!