At the time of the Cherokee removal from North Carolina, the Principle Chief of the Cherokee, John Ross, was only 1/8th Cherokee. The people of that region had always desired an independent nation (a nearby settlement in Jonesboro was the first place in the colonies to declare its independence from England, as a republic, separate from the other colonies). The folks living in the region thought that they had found the answer to the problem of independence...they would embrace their Cherokee ancestry and live on a separate, autonomous, reservation. It didn't occur to them that the US .gov would just order them to move and seize their land. The reason that so many "Cherokees" are left in the mountains of NC is that when the Military arrived, folks like my 8th great grandfather could simply say, "No Indians on this farm". Even though his mother was a Cherokee, his name was Welsh, and so were all his children similarly named. The folks who had names like, "Running Deer", who had really lived the Cherokee life==not just married a Cherokee and lived as a white--were the ones who got hauled down the trail of tears. Those folks also tended (but not always) to be poorer.
Elizabeth Warren's family was among those pseudoCherokee, who stayed in NC...until after the Civil War...when they left for Oklahoma--which at that time was called" Indian Territory"...at this time, many whites pored into Indian Territory, once again, displacing the Cherokee. Ms Warren's family prospered on their stolen land in Oklahoma, making something of a family joke out their Cherokee roots. Ms Warren did not flinch when given a shot at stealing a chair on the Harvard faculty that was meant for a Native American. Just like her family stole their land from native Americans, Ms Warren stole her seat at Harvard...
