There is Indian in my family; however, we do not have papers. How do we get affiliated with our people?

Question

I practice many rituals passed from our grandmother; however, wehre do I get my native american card?

Answer 1

Since, as you say, you "do not have papers."  Your American Indian ancestor(s) chose to no longer identify as and affiliate with their American Indian heritage.  They made that choice for themselves as well as all of their descendants.  Just as families gave up their German/Irish/English citizenship to become American, so do some American Indians.  You could not go to Germany/Ireland/England/American Indian Tribes and simply state that your ggggrandparent was German/Irish/English/American Indian and you want back in.  You wouldn't possibly be taken seriously.  You would have to meet whatever requirements Germany/Ireland/England/American Indian Tribe had in place for people to gain citizenship.  So, in your case, you'd have to meet the requirements of the tribe you descend from in order to become recognized as one of them.

Answer 2

Coolrogue is 100% correct along with others.  If your grandmother was not on one of the rolls your sunk.

Answer 3

I am in the same situation, except I was adopted.  Even though I found my biological family over 25 years ago, the state I was born in, California, does not recognize the Federal law called Indian Child Welfare Act, (ICWA) which says that anyone with Indian blood is entitled to an original, certified copy of their birth certificate.  Each of the three times I appealed to a judge for an original, certified copy of my birth certificate, I was denied.

You would have to go to the Tribe you are from, and they will send you forms to fill out and return, along with your genealogy and a certified copy of your birth certificate.

If you can find your ancestors on the Dawes Final Rolls, at www.archives.gov/genealogy/tutorial/dawe... print that out as proof, and name each person as to your ancestry, i.e., cousin, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, etc.  The Dawes rolls were closed to new applicants in 1914.  If you can find your ancestors on the Dawes rolls and how you are related, then you are in good shape.  

You can trace your genealogy at Ancestry.com, Roots Web, Cindi's List, etc., and many other sites.  

Also, in some Tribes, probably most, you have to be a certain degree of Indian, i.e, 1/8, 1/4, etc.,  They might ask for a Quantam Test, which is a blood test that can show your degree of Indian, or can be compared to a living relative that has already registered with your Tribe.

I truly hope this helps you, and wish you the very best in your quest.  If you provide your tribe with the information I have above-referenced, you will more than likely be accepted with no problems.

Answer 4

sty in touch with your family members  through internet.

                                                                                    manu

Answer 5

you have to proove it, using a geneological tree search by an affilitied And othurized person then you must take the info to government againt, google that to find agent nearest you. GL! #1 thing is you have to proove it and birth cert. or writen statements won't work, what well work is if a tribe recognizes you as an official part of the tribe, but ounce again if you are not already a part of a tribe they'll want some proof.

Answer 6

There is only one way to get a CDIB Card, and that is to prove a direct lineage with someone who appears on the tribes base roll. Example:  For the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma you have to prove direct lineage to someone on the Dawes Roll, for the Eastern Band of Cherokee you have to connect to someone on the Baker Roll and have a blood quantum of at least 1/8, for the Osage Tribe you have to have an ancestor on the Osage Roll of 1906.  There is NO other way, and YOU have to provide the proof through birth, marriage, etc certificates.

And NO Federally Recognized Tribe accepts DNA testing as the sole proof of Native Ancestry.

Answer 7

My family has been denied their degree of Indian blood bcuz somewhere in the past someone didn"t register with the tribe they belong to~ when we began this process we needed birth certificates,marriage certificates, baptismal certificates,social security numbers, birth dates & death dates ,UNREAL!!! My blood line gives me 1/4 Indian blood~my tribe says 1/16. Total Insult,my own kind rob me/family  of our Heritage!!! Most of the tribal counsil R  full bloods~so...I"m inclined 2 blieve they want 2 eliminate 1/2 breeds!!!! They took the card away~again, TOTAL INSULT!! So I really wish you luck on claiming your heritage~Maybe us 1/2 breeds need 2 be more active,get on the council board!!! Whatever degree of Indian blood a person has, deserves acknowlegement! Just wish our "Blood Brothers" felt the same!!!!!

Answer 8

If you know who you are why worry about a card? A lot of tribes are strict because of wannabe's & gold diggers out for an easy buck trying to cash in on Casino money or government hand-outs.  If you are native, be proud of your heritage, card or not.

Answer 9

It is very difficult to prove.  In my home state of Virginia, there are some interesting issues that get in the way.  One is called "paper genocide".  From the 1920s to the 1960s it was actually illegal to be Native American.  The state registrar altered records to list Indian people as “colored” or “mulatto” to take away civil and personal rights, land and their eventual existence on the public record.  This was led by Walter Plecker, the state's first registrar of the Bureau of Vital Statistics and an avowed white supremacist -- used statistics rather than guns to try to exterminate them.  An exception to proving Native American heritage in Virginia is the "Pocohontas Exception" law.  Once some of the elite European "First Families of Virginia" were able to trace one line of their roots to Pocohontas, a law was created to allow them to claim to be Native American.  The new law had to be carefully worded so as not to bring shame and discredit to these "First Families of Virginia".  So it would appear that if you were a regular person in Virginia, you had to be white to have any rights.  But, if you were a descendant of one of the eliete First Families, you had legal exceptions to be able to claim your Native American lines.