I remember when I was a little girl and my permanent front teeth came in. I had a ridge on the backs of my six front upper teeth. I thought that was the thing about permanent teeth, that there were ridges on the backs of every one's upper front teeth just to make a really secure bite. But did you know that not everyone has a ridge? They are called shovel teeth and they are a racial feature of Native American People. The backs of Bob's front teeth are smooth thanks to his Scottish Ancestry. How can he really hold on to anything when he bites down? All of our children have the ridge. Shovel teeth must be a dominant trait. I am only 1/32nd Cherokee. My children are 1/64th and still carry this trait.
The result of shovel teeth is that the root base is about twice as thick as regular European or African people's teeth. Maybe this is a good trait for primitive people to have in case we need to chew on some leather to make our moccasins soft.
Another trait of Native American teeth is an extra root in the molars. I have heard dentist complain about how Cherokee's roots are wrapped around the jaw bone and harder to extract. Another trait which makes chewing the leather for our moccasins easier?
Many people have unconfirmed rumors of Native American Ancestors in their blood line. If you have that ridge on the backs of your front teeth you might really want to investigate that possibility. The only other group of people who have shovel teeth in the world are small pockets of Asians.
Another good quality about being a white Cherokee is that I can get a really good tan. Thank you Martha Jane Savage.
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About Me
- Bonnie
- I am a stay at home mom but the clock is ticking. My husband and I only have one child left at home. I enjoy shopping and finding great bargains.
22 comments:
How interesting! Do your siblings have the ridge also?
Yes! The trait comes from my dad's side of the family. My mother did not have them but all of the siblings have the ridge.
I used to think that my teeth were normal teeth. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled and the dentist had to chisel the roots off of my jaw bone, I just thought it was bad luck. After several root canals and talking to Daddy, I learned that it was my "Indian Blood." I haven't checked all of my kids teeth, maybe we will do that for Family Home Evening!
Interesting that you should comment about Natives chewing the leather to make it soft. To my understanding and education from my grandmother (Hunkpapa-Lakota) this is not true, at least not in our tribe or those who were amoung us. I was told that it is brain tanning that makes leather soft. I imagine it contains an enzyme to break it down. FYI. Oh! and the teeth board shovel shape is true, they also usually have very straight teeth! :)
Wow! It's interesting to know that teeth board shovel shape is true! Well, normal teeth or not, dentists are still needed for regular check up and cleaning. We had discussed this topic in one of our family home evenings.
On the other hand, my sister had a normal teeth, there's no need for braces. One dentist in Goose Creek told her to just continue flossing and brushing her teeth in a regular basis. I remember a Hanahan dentist who kept on telling my cousin to use dental floss daily.
Interesting post, Bonnie! Thanks!
I wish I were asian! I had 5 wisdom teeth and my dentist claimed I had Native American ancestry.
I've been undergoing extensive dental work, I've had several root canals. I recall how bad it was when my wisdom teeth were removed, the roots were long and wrapped around my jawbone. Now I've learned that several of my teeth have extra roots and canals, they're invisible on x-rays. Several months ago I found an article that said those extra roots are more common in the Native American population. All of my roots are freakishly long and twisted with invisible branches. I also have ridges on my front teeth, they're thick in back at the base. We always believed my paternal grandfather was 1/2 Native American but had no proof. My sister recently had a DNA test done that indicated she is not of American Indian ancestry. I think that test was flawed. I was grateful to read this blog and confirm what I've always believed. I have Native American teeth! One day I'll have my own DNA testing done.
Maxillofacial Surgeons, say impacted wisdom teeth need to be removed because they can damage adjacent or nearby teeth and nerves, get infected, or crowd your other teeth. remove wisdom teeth
Native Americans are not primitive people. That's pretty damn offensive. Did you think that maybe a Native person would not have the capabilities to read your blog or what? Nor do we chew on our moccasins to make them soft. What a silly idea! As ktewin said, it's brain tanning, which as you can guess, involves the brain of the deer, that makes deerskin soft (although now one can use chemicals to soften deerskin or leather commercially, which is very common nowadays).
My granddaughter has Cherokee and Choctaw. Interesting to read that about chewing leather. We had a hard time breaking her from chewing on leather. ...she may still do it since she is grown.
My granddaughter has Cherokee and Choctaw. Interesting to read that about chewing leather. We had a hard time breaking her from chewing on leather. ...she may still do it since she is grown.
Poor Bob not being able to hold anything when he bites down!!! ;)
I always knew I was part Cherokee (great-great grandmother), but at 21 years old a bad filling in a molar caused the tooth to split. I went to the nearest dentist, and he estimate the extraction would take less than 30 minutes. Over three hours later the tooth was finally out, and the dentist said the lengthy extraction was due to the fact that I was part Cherokee. He asked if I knew it. I said "yes, but how do you know?" He said I had a Cherokee "marker" in that I had five roots on my molars that were wrapped around my jaw bone, and that it took over three hours to pull the tooth and the roots. He said this was unique to the Cherokee and their strong genes.
Hello, I'm not even sure how I stubbled across this blog... however thought you'd like to know my dental experiences. I am 1/2 Muskogee. I have very strong, very bright white teeth, despite my old addiction to cigarettes. Also I have never whitened my teeth. In that sense I'm very lucky. However, I have extra bones in the top and bottom of my mouth that make simple things such as dental xrays painful. I had 2 sets of baby teeth and when I had to have my wisdom teeth removed it had to be done in an actual hospital and I had to be put completely under, no general anethestic, because of the size of my roots. I too have shovel teeth, and have never had cavities but do get cracks in my back teeth( I've been told this is because my enamel is too strong for a cavity, however where and tear will cause cracks, imagine a rock over time) According to the dentist all of this is because of my native heritage. ...... some other native traits you might be interested in: 1. long thick eyelashes that curve instead of curl 2. fingernails that grow crooked 3. Genetic Migraine Disorder 4. Lupus and blood disorders 5. Allergic to Sunscreen
Many years ago I was told by a Cherokee
woman in her office that I was native
american indian too because I have the
high cheek bones. I thought maybe she
thought so because of my long, thick,
straight, almost black hair. There have
been so many rumors on both sides of my
family that we are partially Native
Indians, though through my geneology, I
have yet to make a connection as to where
it would come from if it did. Now, I have
read about the teeth and going by why a
Dentist made a big deal out of it a long
time ago that the lady was right. I had the
trouble with my roots. Dentist not being
able to kill the nerves in my jaw teeth and
I had the roots wrapped around the jaw bone
as well. My mother and her family did have a
slightly darker skin. She never burned from
the sun, but got a dark tan. Her brothers all
had dark brown eyes, while the girls had
hazel. My g-g-g-grandmother was born in
Canada and her maiden name was Matthews.
My mothers father was born in Warsaw MO.
He claimed his first wife was indian from
2 different tribes. I think he said Cherokee
and Shawnee. In fact, she and her baby
are buried in the Shawnee Cemetery in Warsaw
Missouri. She died at Osage Beach, Camden
County Missouri. Her obit: and pic. on
find a grave:
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi
?page=gr&GSmcid=46479247&GRid=5652398&
The test may not be flawed. Tests show what genes are "turned on" in your personal genetic code. That is why you can have a child with a different color of hair, eyes, or skin from you. You pass along all the genetic information you have, and some things show in you, and some things show in them. If your siblings all got tested, you might see that they show a different percentage of certain ancestries than you because of which genes are manifest in you.
The genetic test was not flawed. First of all, not all commercially available companies like AncestryDNA even test Cherokee DNA as part of their samples. Run your DNA file through Gedmatch, it is free. If you are Cherokee you will have West Asian DNA, and possibly Oceanian. You will also have North African DNA and Caucasian DNA. Caucasian, as in the Caucasus area of Europe. Secondly, the likelihood that you will inherit any DNA from an ancestor falls off after 5 generations. You could very well have a grandparent that you got NO DNA from.
I hope no one listens to the advice about Gedmatch. Cherokee people are no different than any other First Nations people. If a commercial test doesn't pick up on any DNA, it likely doesn't exist. As far as West Asian, Europeans are literally West Asian and Caucasian in origin. The closer in Europe their ancestors lived to Turkey, the higher that score becomes. The more Northwestern European a person's ancestors are, the lower their West Asian and Caucasian their score is. Native American people will always score mostly Amerind on Gedmatch with a small amount of East Asian or sometimes Siberian/Beringian. Their Oceanian score is never higher than 2%. Any trace amount of Amerind, East Asian, Siberian, and Oceanian should always be regarded as noise unless a paper trail confirms ancestry.
I read that about us being primative! The Cherokee Nation People were highly intelligent! They are not primative! If primative mean they are superior, humble, honest and live off Nature, then I am still primative!
I live in Nature and eat the he wild fruits, instead of the Poison foods sold in the "civilized food markets!
White folks always claiming to be native Americans when you're a bunch of 5 dollar indians
I am half choctaw and half white and the only one of those features I have is slightly shoveled teeth but only on two of them.
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