Those are powerful words that I repeat with pride in claiming my Native American heritage. My name is Tom (do-ma-si) Steele, and it was the search for proof of this ancestry that led me to the vital records room at the Kanawha County Courthouse in September 1996, looking for the document that would say, "Tom, you are Native American." The proof wasn't there, but I did find the death record of Great-Great Grandmother Lucinda Oiler, wife of Harvey Oiler and daughter of Joseph and Martha Layton. The record shows that she died of fever on 15 February 1877, at the early age of 27. According to family tradition, she was Cherokee.
The best person to know of our ancestry during my lifetime was my maternal grandmother, Grace Crist, who was born Grace Garnet White on 23 June 1901, the daughter of Robert Henry and Martha Jane White, and died on 27 November 1981. Her mother, Martha Jane White, was the daughter of Joseph Harvey Oyler (Oiler) and Lucinda Layton Oyler. Martha Jane was only about eleven when her mother died, so it's assumed she had learned enough of her mother's Cherokee birth to pass this bit of family history down, through my grandmother, to the present.
Grandmother Crist's pride in being the granddaughter of a full-blooded Cherokee was well known within the family, and she spoke of it often. Two of her other grandchildren, my first cousins Carolyn and Carla Gaunch, embraced their Native American heritage many years ago, and Carla registered with the inter tribal Appalachian American Indians of West Virginia. I finally registered with them at the beginning of 2001 after attending my second Pow Wow the previous September. My sons, James and Jonathan, were registered with me, as were my sister Kathy (ge-di-yi) and her son Jon.
A possible secondary Cherokee connection can also be found on my mother's side of the family, although no proof can be offered. Her father, Charles Herman Crist, was the son of Charles Kemper Mauzy Crist and Emma Jane Branham. Emma Jane was the daughter of Rebecca Branham and Jack Childers or Childressand the granddaughter of Andrew Branham and Sabra Estep. Sabra was the daughter of Cornelius Estep and Annie Terry, and Annie is generally shown as the daughter of Miles Terry and Hannah Horton. Some accounts speak of her as Native American, while others speak of her specifically as Cherokee and a niece of Chief John Ross.
Those interested in looking at our Cherokee connections from a genealogical perspective might want to take a look at the descendants list of Joseph and Martha J. Layton and Andrew and Sabra Estep Branham.
 | Carla's Native American Page A beautiful site by the nice lady who has provided most of my graphics, and I thank her. |
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| Spring Rain's Native American Web Page A nicely done web page by a member of AAIWV. |
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| All things Cherokee A so-so, and largely commercial web page. |
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| Carving A Mountain - The Crazy Horse Memorial A historical look at the progress in sculpting this fantastic memorial. |
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| Crazy Horse Memorial - Images A look at CNN's coverage of the memorial over the past decade. |
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| Native American Resources An excellent source for Native American links. |
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| GaWaNi Pony Boy Recognized throughout the country as the authority on Native American Horsemanship® and is considered an innovative educator in the field of Native American history. |
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Background music, "Earth and Sky"
© élan michaels and MusicWorx Publishing - sequenced by élan michaels
Please visit élan's website