How do you determine how much Native American Blood you have?

Question

My Grandmother, her sister,and I are considering joining a tribe.

My mother's mother, is part Cherokee- Her Father was half Cherokee and half African-American. He then married a woman whos mother was half Lakota and her father was african American.

My Mothers father's parents are both of mixed blood, african-american, native american, and irish- im still trying to figure out their side of the family and their background

My father's mother's father was part native american as well- im not sure which tribal background though

I know this is probably not enough information , but you could make an estimate, how much Native American blood could i possibly have and how much do you need to join a tribe?

lol that was alot of wrtiting.

Answer 1

For starters, with talking about Cherokee and Lakota ('Sioux'), you are talking about Nation. To find out what tribes within them that you actually descend from will require deeper search within family info and whatever records you can view that might give you clues.

When you say "Her Father was half Cherokee," do you mean your mom's or your grandmother's father?

Wish I could try to suggest an amount, but the "part" and "mixed" keep it inconclusive. If you can figure out which people were last that were 100%, divide each in half per geneation up to yourself, and that would be how much you have of each.

i.e. If you mean it's your mother's father, your grandfather, that was half...then your mom would get 1/4 from him and you'd get an 1/8th. Then add that to the amount gotten from your mom's mom. Do same for other side of family.

Answer 2

get a blood sample and sent it for analysis

Answer 3

if your family members weren't on the dawes rolls it's EXTREMELY hard to join tribe.  you can try to do the ancestry dna typing, but just because you're native by blood doesn't mean they'll just let you in the culture.  it's a political thing.

Answer 4

Let's start at the beginning.  No one 'joins' a tribe, you are either born into a tribe or you are not.  If you are born into a tribe, you then 'enroll' or list your name among the others who are in the tribe.  However, not everyone born into a tribe can enroll.  Enrollment requirements are left up to each tribe to determine.  Most tribes require lineal descendancy (being born to a tribal enrollee) and some have the added requirement of a minimum blood quota requirement (which is why some who are lineal descendants cannot enroll).

Based on your question, you have presumed Cherokee and Lakota ancestry.  Most Lakota tribes have a 1/4 minimum blood quota requirement.  Unless one of your grandparents was 4/4 Lakota, you would not meet the minimum blood quota requirement.  Cherokee is another issue.  There are 3 federally recognized Cherokee tribes, each with their own enrollment requirements.  The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is the least stringent in their enrollment requirements: You must be a lineal descendant of a person listed on the by-blood section of the Dawes Rolls of 1906.  No minimum blood quota required.  You'd lean towards CNO IF your family has ties back to Oklahoma/Indian Territory.  Eastern Band Cherokee requires 1/16 minimum blood quota and lineal descendancy from a person listed on the Baker Roll.  If your family is from North Carolina area, you'd try EBC.  United Keetowah Band of Cherokee requires 1/4 minimum blood quota and lineal descendancy from a person listed on the Dawes Rolls of 1906.  If you don't meet the requirements for any of those tribes, your left with state-recognized tribes (and there are many) which still require lineal descendancy from various Rolls taken in the late 1800s to early 1900s.  If you don't meet any of the requirements for a state recognized tribe then you can always join a club (some clubs call themselves 'tribes' even though they are not tribes at all in the political sense).  These groups you can 'join' as they are open to anyone, with or without tribal heritage.  They will usually have a fee associated with their membership.  None of the federally recognized tribes charge you for anything. Good luck!