Redskin

In case you're wondering about "Quachi"-- pronounced [kwah -chee]-- it's the shortened version of my father's original last name. It's much longer than "Q-u-a-c-h-i"and it has several consonants in a row. My family just says Quachi. My father's father is full blood Hopi. When my grandfather went to school the teacher could not pronounce his last name so he was given a new name. His last name was changed to Gilbert. (I need to verify this, but I think Gilbert was his middle name and the teacher exchanged them).

My paternal grandmother is part White Mountain Apache. My maternal grandfather is Cherokee. And my maternal grandmother is Chickasaw. Although I have these four tribes in my DNA I can only be a tribal member of one. When you become a tribal member you must relinquish your right to be a tribal member of any other tribes.

Not all Native Americans receive payouts from their tribes. As a Chickasaw tribal member I do not receive any money from the tribe. My father is a member of the White Mountain Apache tribe. His tribe does not distribute money to each of their members either.