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Question: How many black Americans really have Native American ancestors
all of my family claims that we have native american blood (we look it) but how much of this could be true!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Very interesting question! According to a man who has performed DNA testing on black Americans, only approximately 10 percent have Native American ancestors:

He said many blacks wrongly believe they are descendents of Native Americans!.

"If you ask 10 African-Americans if they have Native American ancestry, eight of them will say yes, but when we actually test them, it's less than 10 percent," Kittle said!.

!.!.!.
The historians and archaeologist and anthropologist have shown that the bulk of the enslaved Africans came from northern Nigeria to southern Angola's parts of western central area, and so we have a database that encompasses that area and so when we test these African-Americans, they pretty much match to there about 95 percent of the time," Kittle said!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Due to stigma and discrimination, MANY persons have been known to claim Native Amer!. ancestry, instead of admitting to African American!.
I would estimate that probably 1/2 of those that think they have Native Amer!. , really do not (not limited to those with African Amer!. ancestry), and many become very upset, when they do the actual research!.
If you want to know if it is true or not, you can always do the actual research of your ancestors, and find out what the records show!. There is no need at all to guess what "might" be true or not!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

There are many lengthy responses here, but the short answer to your question is!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.it is not possible to know how many black Americans really have Native American ancestors!. DNA testing would have to be performed on every single living black American, and who is going to take on that task and pay for it!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

It could be very true!. A lot of it depends how close your ancestors were to Native Americans!. For example, my grandmother's family comes from the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina, home of the Eastern Cherokees!. So after doing some research, my dad and I found out that we are part Cherokee!. (We found some family photos and a bible with a family tree to help us discover this!.) Www@QuestionHome@Com

I saw a documentary on tv recently and it said not many did!. They even investigated claims from some celebrities and only 1 came out to truly have native descent!. Some natives would actually collect the reward for missing slaves and turn them in!. They also say that there was starting to be an alliance between slaves and the indians so they hired natives to hunt down slaves and hired slaves to hunt down indians!. They also encouraged natives to own black slaves!. Reggiments such as buffalo soldiers were created!.

This was interesting (website credited in source):

"In 1770, a white observer reported that the Creeks allow slaves their freedom when they marry, which "is permitted and encouraged" and their children were considered free!.6 Contemporary Euro-American records revealed a European fear for black/Indian mixing, for there were instances of Africans and Indians joining together in armed resistance against Europeans!. A British officer had warned, "Their mixing is to be prevented as much as possible!."7 In 1751, South Carolina law stated: "The carrying of Negroes among the Indians has all along been thought detrimental, as an intimacy ought to be avoided!."8 A 16th century French colonial dispatch also stated "Between the races we cannot dig too deep a gulf"!.9

In the 19th century, a number of high ranking Seminoles married black wives - Chief Osceola was one of them!. It was said that 52 of his 55 body guards were black!. Seminole King Philip too had a black son John Philip, half brother to Chief Wild Cat!. King Philip, Chief Osceola and Wild Cat were key figures in the 2nd Seminole war between the US and the Seminole Nation!.10 The US General Sidney Jesup apparently saw the mixing of blacks and Indians in the Seminole Nation as a threat: "!.!.!. the 2 races !.!.!. are identified in interests and feelings!.!.!.Should the Indians remain in this territory, the negroes among them will form a rallying point for runaway negreos from adjacent states!."11

When Native Americans in the United States were driven off their land by Europeans, some sought refuge in black communities, passing as 'colored' (of mixed Afro-European ancestry)!. Africana!.com article Indian in the Family explores the topic of black/Indian mixing in the US!. Today, there are large numbers of black Americans of Native American ancestry!. "Www@QuestionHome@Com

Will smith has Native American ancestry here is the website it says in his bio
http://uk!.imdb!.com/name/nm0000226/bio
Chris Tucker also has Native American ancestry
have a look on this website it says Chris Tucker has Native American ancestry
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Chris_Tucke!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

i dont know what you mean by you "look it", bit its possible, sometimes when slaves ran away they would end up taking refuge with native american tribes and would produce children, but it wasn't excessive Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think most do!. I know i do!.!.!.my great great grandmother was native american!.!.!.you couldn't tell by looking at me though!. Www@QuestionHome@Com