Cherokee heritage was documented within Lanier’s family tradition

Evidence

Big Mammy’s children were part Cherokee and practiced both Native and African American culture and traditions. Charles Williams documented all of this in a hand-bound book titled From These Roots. There was a tree trunk drawn on the bright yellow cardboard cover above three distinct branches of roots, each pointing to different family names: Williams, Murdock, and Lightfoot. — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 44