How can I legally change my race from Caucasian to native American. I was adopted and just found out I was NA.

Question

I was adopted and was recently re-united with my biological parents. They are both native American. My birth certificate says Caucasian. I own a small business and due to my ethnic heritage, I would qualify as a minority owned business. This is the reason for my question. The next question would then be, how would I qualify and prove I am a native American in the eyes of the law as it relates to minority owned business status.

Answer 1

I am very skeptical that you can do what you hope to do.

Here is why.. at birth, your certificate reflects what your race is, according to the info given at the time.  When adopted, the certificate is legally amended to show the names of the adoptive parents.  I do not think the racial designation is changed.. just the parent's names.  And I don't think that can be amended.  I also don't think your birth certificate can be "re-amended" so that it now goes back to show your biological parents. To do that, would require a court order, undoing the legal status of the adoption.

Qualifying for tribal benefits is something that requires DOCUMENTATION.  I have to assume the same is true for qualifying for being a minority business owner. The main source of the documentation is that certificate, and it does not reflect what you say.. even though it may be factual.

Answer 2

You CAN change it.  I know in the state of Virginia, you must provide a notarized form stating the reason for the change and they must approve it first before they will change it.  However, nowadays birth certificates do not show race.  That information is kept by the Dept. of Vital Statistics, but is not printed on the birth certificate.

EDIT:  I don't know who gave me thumbs down, but I KNOW that this can be done because my husband did it just last year.  It did not matter that his parents birth records said they were white.  The fact is, when they were born in the 1920's it was ILLEGAL in the state of Virginia to claim to be Native American.  There was even one doctor who attempted to wipe out the Native American race by forcing all newborns to be documented as white or black.  Citing that law was enough for the Dept. of Vital Statistics to change my husband's race in their records from white to Native American even though his parents race was recorded as white.  He did NOT need to prove any tribal connections.

Answer 3

If in fact your biological parents are Native American, you would have to show proof that they are in fact your biological parents.  Then you would have to show that they are members of a Federally Recognized Tribe or Nation.  If they are you have what you need to become a registered member of that tribe.  But the burden of proof is in your hands.  YOU have to do all the research and provide the proof.  Once you can do that you can apply with the tribe that your parents are members of....

Answer 4

You will have to register with your parents tribe, which must be a federally recognized tribe.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2096043/

How Do You Join an Indian Tribe?

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Native American

http://www.cyndislist.com/native.htm

List of Indian reservations in the United States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ind...

Answer 5

So why don't they re-adopt you?

Your situation is not unusual. Contact the Small Business Administration and see what they have to tell you. More than likely, if you have some sort of proof that these people are your biological parents, you don't need to do anything else than apply for the loan or grant....

And we assume that since you are the child of Native Americans, and they are 100% Native American, then you would at least look the part.

You would need to know what tribe and all that stuff as well.