By Jeffrey Smith
"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.
Oral Roberts Biography & Notes
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.
For more on televangelists, see Targeting Born-Again Christians.
Below: Oral Roberts and Negiel Bigpond.
5 comments:
Well, John Ross was also 'only' 1/8 Cherokee...
For another interesting (and funny) comparison:
Skit
Or being 1/16th Irish...
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27838
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
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.
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