December 16, 2009

Oral Roberts was part Cherokee

Oral Robert's Last Sermon Delivered To Local Native American Church

By Jeffrey SmithOn the news, you saw Oral Roberts blessing his university's third president before thousands of students.

"I'm all choked up this morning trying to talk, because this is a high moment for me. You just don't know how deeply moved I am," Roberts said during the sermon.

What you didn't see was a surprise visit to a small Native-American Church, two days later.

"Everyone was just taken aback; you could see it on their faces," Pastor Negiel Bigpond said.

Oral Roberts was a fan of Bigpond's book on Indian women, called Women Warriors.

He wanted to meet privately with Bigpond to discuss their ancestry.

"He was proud of his blood; he kept saying I'm very proud of my bloodline, my Cherokee blood," Bigpond said.
The following note confirms Roberts's Cherokee heritage:

Oral Roberts Biography & NotesOral Roberts (born January 24, 1918) is an American neo-Pentecostal Christian televangelist. He can be considered to be a part of the Charismatic movement.

He was born in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma as Granville "Oral" Roberts, the fifth and youngest child of Rev. and Mrs. Ellis M. Roberts. His mother was 1/4 Cherokee.
Comment:  So Roberts was 1/8 Cherokee, eh? Too bad he died. According to Hollywood execs, he was as qualified as anyone else to play Tonto.

For more on televangelists, see Targeting Born-Again Christians.

Below:  Oral Roberts and Negiel Bigpond.


5 comments:

Kat said...

Well, John Ross was also 'only' 1/8 Cherokee...

Kat said...

For another interesting (and funny) comparison:

Skit

Riley said...

Or being 1/16th Irish...

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27838

Anonymous said...

There are many, many Americans with native blood (due to lots of historical complications,most blacks can't claim anything legally,though most on the east coast easily have more than 1/8 native ancestry),but very few are directly involved with the Native American community. Oral Roberts was,so he can claim it whereas others can do so only at the risk of looking like pretentious wannabes, or folks who've decided that being white is so boring that they must be something more exotic.

Mary

Rob said...

Someone with 1/8th Indian blood may or may not be considered an Indian. When your blood quantum is that small, the determination tends to depend on more qualitative variables. For instance, whether you grew up in a Indian culture, whether you actively participate in one, or whether other Indians accept you as a peer.

For more on the subject, see "Actual Indian" Defined.