Associated Press - October 29, 2009 5:44 PM ET

SLIDELL, La. (AP) - Cyril Neville, the youngest of the four Neville Brothers, says he's proud to finally be embracing his Choctaw Indian heritage and looks forward to serving as ambassador for Indian tribes in the St. Tammany Parish area.

Neville says all his life, his parents and other family members told him that he was a Choctaw, which he says is pronounced "Chahta." But Neville says he only recently found the historical records documenting his ancestry.

Neville was recently in the New Orleans suburb of Slidell at a Choctaw village known as Bonfouca, to plan for a "Coming Out of Exile" reunion of the Tchefuncte nation this weekend. At the event, Neville is slated to be introduced as the tribes' new ambassador, meaning he will speak on behalf of the tribes in the St. Tammany Parish area.

Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com

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