Cherokee Grandmother Syndrome

claiming one has some distant native american ancestor in order to sound more exotic or interesting when in fact no such native american ancestor exists.

this practice is also relatively common by some american celebrities and personalities.
larry: “and my great-great grandmother was part choctaw and apache.”

bob: “larry, that’s bs, your paternal grandparents where german immigrants and your maternal grandparents were irish immigrants. you sound like you have a case of cherokee grandmother syndrome.”

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james: “hey did you hear elizabeth warren is 1/32nd cherokee?”

dustin: “pff, yeah sure man”
a misconception many poorly-informed white americans have about their ancestry,mainly in the american south.many people have been told all their lives that they had “indian in them”,”great-great-grandma had straight black hair and ‘them features’ so i know she was cherokee”,etc etc,and later found out through actual genealogy research that they didn’t have a native ancestor at all.for a long time,the south had very little,if any,immigration and was for the most part settled by english,scot,and irish,and when a dark-haired or olive-skinned individual popped up,it was just -ssumed that meant cherokee blood,which often caused generations to believe they were cherokee when they weren’t.
white person:”hey,are you a real indian?my grandmother was cherokee.”

native american:”really?do you have proof?”

white person:”she had black hair and them features,and i know she was cherokee.”

native american:”looks like another case of cherokee grandmother syndrome…”