“A good enough place to die”
Last week at work I was looking through one of the cases for a family who had been denied membership on the Cherokee rolls about 1896. The file was a large one–about 62 pages–all sorts of affidavits and appeals. The family and their attorney were pleading their case, claiming descendency from a Cherokee woman back in North Carolina.
One affidavit was from a man who had known the Cherokee woman’s brother. When the brother was dying, he was evidently in a store, laying on a counter. A bystander asked why someone didn’t take the man to a bed so he could be more comfortable.
“That counter’s a good enough place for an old indian to die” was the reply.
This was offered as proof that the family was indeed Indian. in a legal document. under oath.