Lesson of the Day: Everyone Is Part Cherokee

Just made a 15 page list of all the potential benefit committee celebrities for the NMAInaugural Ball

Some hilarity:

Jessica Alba (Metis/Mexican)

The star agreed to take a DNA test prior to her appearance on comedian George Lopez's late-night show, and felt sure genealogy experts would discover her ancestors were more indigenous American than any other group. He told the actress, "You are 13 per cent indigenous American and you are 87 per cent European." A shocked Alba responded, "Really? Wow!" http://www.cinemablend.com/pop/Alba-Learns-She-Is-European-21454.html
 

 Johnny Depp (Cherokee/Creek/Comanche)

Harris said she had read in interviews that Depp identified himself as being part Native American, so she thought it would be fun to adopt him — a tradition she says is common in Comanche culture. She ran the idea past her adult children, and they agreed.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-05-22/news/31816918_1_johnny-depp-honorary-member-tonto#ixzz1voMfAlu4|

Fergie (Mexican/Native American) >_>

"Yes, I have Mexican in my ancestry,” said Fergie. “My Dad's grandmother was born in Guanajuato. I’m very proud of it; that’s probably where I get my fire! I’m mostly Scottish-Irish, though.”
 
http://www.latina.com/entertainment/music/exclusive-fergie-breaks-down-her-latina-roots
  

Megan Fox (Cherokee)

Referring to her role as Cherokee superhero, Rainmaker in Gen 13, she said “She’s a Native American and I have a little bit of that blood in me,” she said. “It would be a bit of a stretch –but if Jake Gyllenhaal can be the Prince of Persia, I think that I can do that.”
 
http://ethnicelebs.com/megan-fox

Cher
Prior to 1973, Cher’s biography always listed her father (John Sarkisian) as being of Armenian heritage, while her mother, Georgia Holt, was of Irish and German extraction. But when Cher’s single “Half Breed” started climbing the Billboard charts (it would eventually hit number one), suddenly she remembered that she was 1/16th Cherokee on her mother’s side.

Channing Tatum

"Tatum has stated in interviews that he is one-quarter Native American, but never lists the tribe. Biographies of him have stated he is from the Alabama region. In a January 2012 edition of USA Weekend, Tatum said that he was "35-40 percent Native American." He loses some credibility with me because if he said earlier that he's one-quarter then that would make his grandmother a full-blood. This 35-40 percent doesn't make very much sense. "

http://www.reznetnews.org/opinion/blog/2012/celebrities-american-indian-ancestry-should-be-recognized-american-indians
 

REAL WIN MOMENT:

Tommy Lee Jones
--> "I feel pretty lucky," [Tommy Lee Jones] says. "Those guys, they know my name. They know who I am. Not bad for a little Indian boy. Not bad."
I ask him his tribe and am quickly corrected about his grandmother's heritage. "It's not a tribe. It's a nation," he says. "The Cherokee Nation."  http://www.ericokeefe.com/wdranch.php