Claiming Native American Ancestry

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

22. Except she thinks

everyone who sees her will immediately recognize she's NA.

Sometimes you can tell by looks. All four of my grandparents came from Ireland, and when I was growing up all the older relatives would take one look at me, cluck their tongues, and say, "She has the map of Ireland on her face". With an Irish brogue, of course.

My parents' brothers and sisters all married fellow Irish Americans, but since I grew up in this country, even if we're only considering people whose ancestors came from northern or eastern Europe, there's a lot of genetic diversity there. Plus of course, lots of people from the rest of the world.

The first time I went to Ireland I was completely gobsmacked. Every single person I saw looked exactly like my brothers and sisters and cousins. I finally understood what the elderly aunts were saying.

Sometimes you can tell a lot by a person's appearance.