If you are Part Native American how can you prove it and apply for tribal recognition?

Question

What are the requirements and what needs to be done to prove your heritage if it is blended ( I am 1/4 Cherokee, but that could be one of several tribes of the Cherokee Nation) I have done my lineage on all accounts except this for it is hard. does anyone have suggestion?

I am not sure who us giving the thumbs down but I assure you all it is not I. I appreciate all your answers so far thank you. I am sorry someone is being a jerk, we are all entitled to an opinion.

Answer 1

The cherokee nation is CHANGING it's enrollment policies as we TYPE. You might want to wait things out a bit.

It USED to be that you had to document lineage back to a DIRECT ancestor on the Dawes Miller Roll. Regardless of Blood Quantum. After this thing with the freedman I'm not %100 on it. You might want to call them up.

The Mormon church keeps excellent records WHY I STILL don't know. But they do and they don't even try to convert you while you research it. They'll even help you, and it only cost a copy fee.

IF it hasn't changed you'll need birth, death, marriage certificates for EVERYONE back to the ancestor on the roll book and their roll number. IF say it's only back to your grampa and you have HIS number. then it's pretty much a no brainer.
http://www.cherokee.org/

I've helped a few get back home.
Lemme know how it's going

Answer 2

You have to be able to provide proof of a direct lineage to a person who appears on either the Dawes or Baker Rolls. Dawes Roll for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Baker Roll for the Eastern Band of Cherokee. There are only 2 Federally Recognized Cherokee "tribes". And therefore if you are expecting to get any "benefits" it would be through either one of these Cherokee Nations. Any of the other Cherokee groups you hear about are just that, groups of Cherokee who don't qualify for membership in either of the 2 Federally Recognized Nations. Some of these other groups have gained State recognition but that is all.

Also NONE of the Federally Recognized Tribes or Nations accept DNA testing as proof of Native American ancestry

Answer 3

It's gonna take a lot of time and driving from one place to another as you get the runaround. Trust me; my father was 1/4 Chippewa and his tribe still hasn't recognized him, he was 51 when he died.

First, you need to trace which parent you've inherited your Cherokee from. Then go to their parents; which one was it? Or both? Then go on up from there. As a descendant of these people, you should be allowed to get copies of birth certificates.

Next, you're going to figure out who has the most Cherokee. Is it Grandma, or her father? Have you been able to find someone who is full-blooded? Whoever it is, look at their birth record and find out where they were born. This may even be on a reservation, which would be a big bonus for you.

If you can't get very far (they won't give you copies of records, you want to see who owned land, etc), go to the county building of the city your ancestor was born in. They have on record all documents relating to treaties made by the federal government, all purchases and sales of land, things like that. Bring your reading glasses.

You shouldn't have to go back any farther than the 1830s, because shortly after that is when the government started putting Indians of all kinds on reservations. They were told, 'This is your land, you get xx acres and a cash payment. Live on.' Then, of course, if someone white wanted the land, for example for a railroad, they came in and took it, said, 'The last treaty doesn't count anymore, here's your new one', and even combined different tribes under their treatises because they were all the same anyway, right? Bastards.

Anyway, you need to get all your paperwork together, prove you came from someone who came from someone who came from someone that was full-blood (or however far back you have to go), make sure you have records showing they exist. Now you have to prove they came from the tribe you're applying to. These records are held on the reservation. You may or may not be able to get them ,depending on the tribe. I know my tribe doesn't want to pay anyone anything, so they give everyone the runaround, even when they have all the paperwork necessary and have been waiting to have their case hear for, oh, 30 years. Anyway, be warned you may run in to opposition. "They're not here, you have to go to the other tribe, 150 miles away." So you get there, and they say, "No, sorry, they lied to you, here's our proof that you couldn't have come from here, and your records are at the first place." So you go back with proof that your records are there, and they say, "Well, you'll have to wait. We're busy." So three months later, you get a call saying you can come look on one day only, for four hours, and whatever you find is yours, but if you can't find anything, too bad. It could happen; I'm not saying they're all like that, but that's my personal experience.

So you finally get your stuff together, you have all your documentation, now you have to ask the tribe to hear your case. It means more paperwork, plus all the stuff you already have, and I don't know what happens after that, because I've never gotten to have a hearing.

So I hope that helps you on your way, good luck with everything.

Answer 4

There are fairly some distinctive tribal ideals--as many distinctive concept structures as there are tribes, even with the incontrovertible fact that they've a tendency to selection purely particularly. i'm no longer very properly knowledgeable in this subject, yet we do have plenty extra natives right here in Canada than you do interior the States. So from very own adventure, i'm going to assert that if a close-by is religious in any respect, (maximum of them relatively are not) they have a reverence for nature, yet no deity. They admire the spirits, yet do no longer worship them. extremely, they'll honour them with rituals and such for "effective relatives" and as a sense-good exercising. Their ideals are all approximately peace and solidarity, so that is extra like Buddhism than something.

Answer 5

That's a good question. I have always been told that I am part Native American too (Blackfeet Tribe). It must be a loooooong way back though. Probably 5 or 6 generations at least. I am sure I would be denied recognition.

I think I would start with the Bureau of indian Affairs.

Answer 6

Hi, I'm 7/8ths Irish and 1/8th Cherokee Indian. I have fair skin, a natural blonde with blue eyes. I look like a travel poster for Ireland, but I carry my CDIB card to prove to people that I'm really Indian. I'm a member of the Cherokee Nation of Tahlequah, OK. It was very easy for me to prove my ancestry because I'm a descendant of the Starr family, one of my ancestors chose OK for the Cherokees to live in.

Answer 7

First of all is your ancestor on the Dawes Roll? Can you document with birth, death and marriage certificates? Then I would suggest that you contact the Cherokee Nation and ask them what they require.

Good luck