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Briana Anthony
Professor Lynn M. Raymond
UWRIT1103
19 July 2016
WP# 6
From the research I have conducted, my country of origin is America. On my
fathers side of the family they were all born in Winston Salem North Carolina.
Moving up the family tree my grandfather was born in Lewisville and my great
grandfather, Haiwatha Benson was part Cherokee (Anthony). My great grandfathers
side of the family had a mix of Cherokee Indians spanning for generations. Even
though here in America we have the American flag and the Star Spangled Banner to
reflect the United States of America, I am also represented in part by the Cherokee
side.
In North Carolina and Tennessee the Cherokee Indians are represented by a
white flag with seven red stars. The flag was a representation and symbol being
named the peace flag (Healy). The flag would be present at ceremonies showing
peace and happiness. The seven red stars and the seven points of each star recall
the seven clans of the Cherokee people (Healy). The way the stars are placed on
the flag are to project the image of the Big Dipper (Healy). I was very interested in
how the arrangement of the stars were to project the image of the Big Dipper
because in history class I have never heard the Big Dipper to be associated with
Native Americans. So it was kind of shocking to me because I was unaware that the
Big Dipper had any meaning/ significance to the Cherokee Indians. Another
interesting fact I found along the way was that the Cherokee Indians carried the
peace flag from their original home to their new home on the Trail of Tears. This
was interesting to me because I actually remember learning about the trail of tears

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in history and the horrible associations that go along with it. Due to many laws and
regulations that have been placed upon Indians the Cherokee flag is not commonly
known or seen. The Cherokee government has talked about bringing the flag back
but with some changes. The new peace flag would contain a black star for those
who died in the trail of tears and a blue star for the bright future. There is a
connection between the American flag and the Cherokee Indian flag in not only the
colors used but also what the starts mean. Where the Cherokee Indians flags stars
are representative of their territories, the USA flags stars represent the different
states/ territories.
In order to become an American citizen overall you must go through
application processes, complete interviews, and take an oath (Apply). The easiest
way to obtain an American citizenship is to be born in America. So luckily for me if I
would like to become a citizen of my country of origin it would not be very hard
since I was born in the USA and I am already a citizen. As far as being a part of the
Cherokee Indian tribe they only require you to have one drop of Cherokee Indian
blood to be considered as Cherokee Indian (Healy). Continuing to research my
family roots had opened my eyes to different aspects of my family that I was
unaware of.

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Works Cited
Anthony, DelRay. Telephone Interview. 20 July 2016

"Apply for Citizenship." USCIS. U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, n.d. Web. 20 July
2016.
Healy, Don. "The Cherokee Nation." The Flags of the Native Peoples of the United States. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 20 July 2016.