Cherokee one of the lost tribes?

Chani

Thu, Mar 27 2008, 10:42 pm

I posted this in another thread, but since it really wasn't on topic, I thought I'd start a thread about this topic specifically.

Quote:

Totally taking things on a tangent but...

I had heard of this from a ger I know who is half Cherokee (went to Yeshiva using tribal education money Very Happy ). He knows a lot about Cherokee customs and religion having grown up on a reservation and was really interested in this. FYI, my limited understanding of Cherokee religion is that it was truly monotheistic (also mentioned in this article). (Of course, most today are Xtian...)

http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/......html

I thought this was really quite interesting, especially discussion about dna:

"The Cherokees of Georgia, who in the 1830's were forcefully exiled to Oklahoma, are basically the southern most subtribe of the Iriquois, the mother tribe of the Senecas in Maryland, the Algonquins in New York State, the Creek, the Yuchi, and others. As far as DNA goes, all the Iriquois who have been tested check out as of Middle east origin; some even carry the Y-chromosome of the Cohanim."

More about DNA:http://www.cherokeeoflawrencec.....A.pdf

DISCLAIMER: I haven't done any exhaustive looking into this issue at all. Just thought I'd put it out here for y'all because I thought it was interesting and I've always been fascinated by "lost tribes".

Ruchel

Fri, Mar 28 2008, 1:16 pm

fascinating. My mother loves Indian culture and some definitely have Middle East looks (others look more Asians, and those who do the pyramids also remind of the Middle East!).

Anyway, how did they arrive in America? I wonder.

louche

Fri, Mar 28 2008, 1:20 pm

the theory is they crossed over the land bridge between what is now Russia and Alaska, during one of the glacial periods when the sea level dropped enough to reveal the land under what is now the bering Strait. You can see a certain resemblance between Eskimos, Native Americans and the peoples of eastern Asia.

Ruchel

Fri, Mar 28 2008, 1:37 pm

I heard about the land bridge, but didn't it get underwater before the tribes separated?

If they sailed, how did they manage to get out of the Mediterranea and then go so far, when it was still extremely difficult 500 years ago? and why did they go there?

louche

Fri, Mar 28 2008, 2:20 pm

read kon-Tiki by Thor heyerdahl. he had a theory that the earliest South Americans sailed from Africa, way more than 500 years ago. he built a lightweight craft that he believed to be a replica of what they used, and himself set out to prove that it could be done without any modern conveniences. he succeeded, and the result was a great tale of adventure that was required reading in schools for many years.

His son has recently done something similar and also wrote a book about it.