Was Ishmael Chavis a Cherokee?

Question

A typescript attached to this profile claims Ishmael was a Cherokee chief.

Can we find any additional sources to confirm this?

Answer 1

Ishmael Chavis along with his wife were "Mulatoe" taxables in Bladen county from 1768-1774. In 1790 he was head of household for a family of 10 "other free". His descendants are now known as Lumbees. Like a lot of Lumbee ancestors, including my own Cox ancestors, who came from Robeson/Bladen county, they were likely what is now known as "tri-racial isolates" (multigenerationally mixed people of European, African, and Native American descent).

Comments

Thanks, Jessica; do you have source citations for the Bladen taxes? I assume the 1790 reference is the census?

Would be great to add all this to his profile.

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(I couldn't find him in the 1790 census...)

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Found him in Robeson Co., NC indexed as Chavers (right column about 1/3 way down list):

"United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YY8-S2FY?cc=1803959&wc=3XTM-B6Q%3A1584071002%2C1584071022%2C1584070607 : 14 May 2015), North Carolina > Robeson > Not Stated > image 1 of 8; citing NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

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Jessica, my future son-in-law has hat same pedigree. Descendants moved to SC and we’re considered Mulatto for several consecutive census records, but suddenly, they’re list as white later.

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My Cox and Britt ancestors were mulatto and "other free" for a generation or two before they apparently achieved "whiteness". The Lumbees and a similar group, the Melungeons, are now trying to obtain recognition as an Indian tribe. From what I've heard, DNA tests reveal most of the members are a mix of African, European, and Native American, with the first two predominating. That's about right judging from my DNA results, as my African ancestry is twice that of my NA (I am still mostly European, however). People had social and legal reasons to downplay their African ancestry and play up whatever smidge of NA they may have had.

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As I understand it, Jessica, mulatto was used to lump the “anything but white” into one category, “white” meaning no blood of another kind. I think was codified in South Carolina, but I don’t know how census takers could tell in many cases. “Passing” became important because of the legal rights one could attain thereby.

There still exists today the idea of marrying up, or marrying someone who was lighter. I’ve personally seen this kind of behavior in SC. In Jamaica at one time, there were something like eight levels of color, and marrying “whiter” was the goal. In my son-in-law’s case, that is exactly what his ancestors did, eventually becoming white in census records.

Actually, I think that my daughter marrying him is a great thing because he is such a wonderful guy. Plus, he’ll add a whole new dna dimension to our family. Better then marrying another Scottish farmer for the millionth generation in a row. My elder daughter started this off my marrying  wonderful man of some Puerto Rican descent. My two sons-in-law prove the point that King made: the content of character, not the color of skin.

Don’t the Lumbees have some kind of state recognition? A small tribe a little further north does. One of their members was on The Voice a season or two ago and went pretty far.

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The Lumbee have a unique Federal recognition, not by the BIA.  The Lumbee community has been recognized as "Indian" since the early 19th century, but they are mixed race, probably descendants of remnant tribes that mixed with other people living on the fringes.  They have lost any Native American culture and language they may have had.  To add to the confusion the State of North Carolina classified them as "Cherokee of Robeson County" for a time in the early 20th century, although they have no Cherokee connection.  They have also been called Croatan,  There is great info on the Lumbee at: http://lumbee.library.appstate.edu/

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I wonder if here has been a general dna study of the Lumbee, average percentages and all that. Would be interesting. My son-in-law’s ancestry leads back to the same area in NC. My daughter wants him to take a dna test... just to see, because it wouldn’t make a difference to her anyway. Me nor my wife neither.

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I don't believe there has been any formal study of Lumbee DNA.

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So back to the original question... While the typescript attached to this profile makes claim of Cherokee leadership for Ishmael Chavis, what I'm now understanding is that this Chavis branch is associated with the Lumbee who never had any Cherokee connections. Am I getting that right?

AND... (and this is more a policy question for the project...) should we categorize Lumbee-known profiles as Native American? Or do we only recognize those "tribes" (not sure what to call the Lumbee) that are recognized by the BIA?

(Maybe we should create a free-space page for the Lumbee?)

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The Lumbee are Federally recognized with a unique and limited status. The Lumbee Act of 1956 states:  "...that the Indians now residing in Robeson and adjoining counties of North Carolina … and claiming joint descent from remnants …. of certain tribes of Indians …..be known and designated as Lumbee Indians of North Carolina.....Nothing in this Act shall make such Indians eligible for any services performed by the United States for Indians...."   They are a very political topic in Indian country. I think it boils down to the facts that some people are willing to accept them as being of Indian descent, but since the Lumbee have no language and no culture they cannot accept their claim to be an Indian tribe.  I personally am comfortable with categorizing documented Lumbee as Native American.  A free-space page with links to the Appalachian State documents might be helpful.

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Instead of a freespace page, I added a short description to the Category page and linked to Wikipedia.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Lumbee

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And then I found this, which I think should be removed:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Lumbee_Tribe

It's a subcategory of BIA-recognized tribes, and you've just said it's not.

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Pip, I have never found any historical evidence that Mulatto was meant to categorize all non-white people. Indeed, in John Bouvier's law dictionary, published in the 1850s:

"... properly a mulatto is a person one of whose parents is wholly black and the other wholly white; but the word does not always, though perhaps it does generally, require so exactly even a mixture of blood, nor is its significance alike in all the states.)"

From the Medway v. Natick, 1810: "It is our unanimous opinion that a mulatto is a person begotten between a white and a black. This is the definition given by the best lexicographers, and we believe it also to agree with the popular use of the term."

I have seen no evidence that 19th century Americans considered Indians, or mixed Indian/whites, to be mulattos. It seems clear that a certain degree of African blood was necessary to be a mulatto. Indeed, I just found a newspaper that mentioned a lady as a "quarteroon Indian", not a Mulatto. I can believe that more modern-day people, anxious to downplay any African ancestry, try to pretend that their ancestors were "really" Native American or what-have-you.

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Here’s some info I found, Jessica. 

http://nativeamericansofdelawarestate.com/Mulatto%20Classification%20of%20Indian%20Families%20&%20Laws.htm

In 1705 the Virginia Legislature passed into law that "the offspring of an Indian and a White is a Mulatto." This law went on to state that if the half-Indian 'mulatto' was to marry a white person then that 'mulatto' and his or her offspring were to be legally regarded as 'white' (this is undoubtedly where the notion that a person should be of at least ¼ blood to be considered an Indian arose). The Virginians were using the word 'mulatto' in its historical usage, from the root word 'mule', meaning any crossbreed. With the independent formation of the lower southern states, each state adopted racial classifications roughly equivalent to that of Virginia. Florida's official race laws stipulated that any mixed-blood person, whether of white/Negro, white/India

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The Lumbee tribe is not federally recognized. I come from the Ishmael Chavis line (which is one of the strongest lines in the Lumbee tribe), 7 generations behind him. Yes our recognition is unique in that we are what's called state recognized and the tribe has been constantly fighting for federal recognition. I met with the Tribal Chairman/Chief last weekend and he said he is working hard for it. While the tribe doesn't have a traditional Native culture on a daily basis, we often practice our roots with festivals and powwows held throughout a good chunk of the year.

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Apparently, the Feds will do only what is in the best interest of the Feds. A shame. The Lumbees deserve better.

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Just to clarify, the Lumbee were designated as Indians by the U.S. Congress through the Lumbee Act, but the tribe was not "recognized" by the BIA through the standard process.  They are currently working on getting recognized through the BIA process which will make the tribe eligible for Federal funds and some other benefits, such as Indian-preference hiring for certain positions.  Although the tribe has "state recognition"  states can only recognize an Indian tribe as an organization, not as a tribe/nation, that is reserved to the Federal government since it is a nation-to-nation relationship.

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I get it. The process is more convoluted than I though. Thanks, Kathryn, for the clarification.

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That's great. Ishmael Chavis was my 4th great grand uncle. His brother Shadrack Chavis is my 4th Great Grandfather. Yet, Lumbee tribe would not allow my family to register with the tribe, I guess we're not the right shade to be accepted.

Answer 2

Ishmael Chavis is my direct ancestor, he was not a Cherokee Chief. He was put down as Mulatto aka mixed race and was taxed. I have seen some relatives who descend from him come back 1% Native American dna. Geni has him down as a Waccamaw Native American. I believe he was mixed Black American and White American with possible Siouan-Native American.

Comments

I am a direct descendent of Ishmael Chavis also. Let me point out something from a book entitled Indians of North Carolina (1920) - states: 

"Jordon Chavis, son of Julia Chavis and grandson of Ishmael Chavis, is now 75 years of age. He states that his father and grandfather always told him that their people were Cherokee Indians."

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how r u related to cheif ishmael im doing a tree and found out hes my kin

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Wrong, he was a full Native. Census people purposely classified people whatever they wanted them to be back in those days, just like $5 indians, who had ZERO native blood was able to reap the benefits to get out down on the roll. So please, spare us with the "possible" American Indian blood. I have a 5th cousin who is also a descendant of Ishmael, his 5th great grand daughter, who, on ancestry has 47% indigenous Americas north blood. So, stop spreading misinformation.

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He's my 4th Great Grand uncle, and his brother younger brother Shadrack was my 4th great grand father.

Hello Cousin