Linda Chavez's Multiracial Roots

Author and commentator Linda Chavez learned of a surprising and historic part of her heritage when she appeared with The Root's editor-in-chief, Henry Louis Gates Jr., on his PBS show, Finding Your Roots.

Although the former U.S. secretary of labor knew that she came from a Spanish-and-Mexican ancestry, she couldn't have guessed the bombshell that lay in the 300-year-old journal of Spanish figure Daniel De Vargas.

Chavez's seventh great-grandmother was held captive during the Pueblo Revolt by the Native Americans against the Spaniards, and while in captivity, she gave birth to a Spanish-and-Native American child -- meaning that Chavez's ancestors are both Native American and Spanish.

"So all those Chavezes that are ... trying to marry each other to keep out the Indian bloods -- the train had already left the station," Chavez said.  

Watch a clip below, and catch her on Gates' Finding Your Roots Sunday, May 20, at 8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT on PBS.

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