The question of my Native American heritage

After speaking with my parents concerning this, I've come away with some facts: (1) it appears that I would not be able to claim "NA" as my race; (2) they are somewhat confused as to the exact lines; and (3) some details (such as dates and first and/or last names) are somewhat sketchy. Through the years I have either misunderstood what details have been told to me or I have twisted them to fit what I wanted. As best as my parents can tell me, here is my linage:

Father's Side: This side of my family is Choctaw, not Cherokee. My great, great, great grandmother was full-blooded Choctaw. One of her children was a daughter (this is the relative who lost an eye in a raid, not by other Choctaw's, but by Cherokee's). This daughter was my great, great grandmother who was actually still alive when I was very young. I was around her, but of course I have no memory of her. She married a white man and one of their children was a daughter. This daughter was my great grandmother. I do have many memories of her and my great grandfather and their farm. One of their children was a son who was my grandfather. One of his son's is my father.

On a side note, one of my grandmother's (my father's mother) brothers has some NA linage on his side. I was told that one of his son's (a cousin of mine) was able to attend the University of Tulsa and claim some type of NA heritage and thus get a big reduction on tuition. I need to check this out and see what the story is.

Mother's Side: I guess I never knew that there is some NA heritage from this side of my family - it wasn't really talked about. This side of my family is Cherokee, from somewhere in the Southeast, possibly Georgia. My great, great, great grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee. All anyone knows is her first name ( which might be her only name). One of her children was a daughter. This daughter was my great, great grandmother. She had many children and was married twice. One of her children with her 2nd husband (who not much is known about, but "the story" is that he was either full-blooded or 1/2 blooded Choctaw, but it seems no one really knows) was a daughter. This daughter was my great grandmother. I have memories of her and I remember she was funny as hell. Very outspoken. Very blunt. One of her children was a daughter. This daughter was my grandmother. One of her daughter's is my mother.


There are a couple of relatives that have done some rather extensive research on the family trees - more so on my father's side. I need to get with them and see if they have actual names, dates, places, etc. I'm told they do and in fact, one of my cousin's has traced back to pre-Civil war times. The Civil War details are actually more interesting to me than the NA stuff. I've heard stories about relatives that fought in Tennessee, so I'd like to get some details and learn more about my relatives and where they were, what they did, during the Civil War period. Maybe I can get into the Sons of the Confederacy.