Enrollment vs Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood: How to Prove Your American Indian Ancestry on Paper
There are two avenues to proving that you are a descendant of a member of a federally recognized tribe. The first is proving to the Bureau of Indian Affairs with the appropriate documents that you are a descendant, the second is proving to your tribe that you have enough blood quantum to qualify for enrollment. One thing that many people do not know is that each tribe is different when it comes to the amount of blood quantum you must have to be an enrolled member of a tribe. For example to be an enrolled member of the Nez Perce tribe in Idaho you must be able to prove ΒΌ blood quantum, however, the Cherokee in 1976 decided that anyone who could prove they were a direct descendant from someone on the Dawes Rolls could become an enrolled member. So, it's important that you do the research and find out what the lowest blood quantum percentage is for your tribe. It may be that you do not have a high enough blood quantum to be enrolled, however don't let that discourage you, you can still receive a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood through the Bureau of Indian Affairs which is also proof on paper.
The first step to proving you are a descendant of a member of a federally recognized tribe is to find your ancestor on one of the rolls, depending on your tribe that could be an allotment, or an annuity census roll or both. Once you do this and are sure it is your ancestor, maybe you've found the ancestor and other family members and the ancestor was living in the right area at the right time so you are sure it is him/her, then you need to write down the tribe, the enrollment number, and if available the census number. This information is vitally important to your search. Your next step is to get state certified birth and death certificates of your enrolled ancestor. These cannot be copies. You should also check for any other documents which may help to back up your claim such as social security numbers, probate determinations, or court orders. The idea is to get as much information as you can. When you have all the proof on paper you can discover that links you to your Native American ancestor then you need to fill out an application for your Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaskan Native Blood. You can receive an application by writing the regional BIA office for your tribe. Once you've filled out the application and provided the appropriate paperwork to back up your claim you send all this to the same regional BIA office for consideration. Keep in mind it may take months or even up to a year for this whole process to be completed.
Once you have received your Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaskan Native Blood then you need to find out what the lowest blood quantum percentage is to qualify for enrollment in your tribe. If your degree of blood is too low then you have gone as far as you can. If on the other hand your blood quantum is high enough to meet your tribe's lowest quantum requirement then you can go about discovering what else your tribe needs to consider you for enrollment. While typically a CDIB certificate is satisfactory in proving you have Indian ancestry within your tribe, most likely you will also be required to fill out an application in addition to providing a copy of your CDIB certificate, and sometimes there will be more such as providing your genealogy as well. Most tribes are online these days, and you should be able to find out what your tribe's requirements are, as well as, get a copy of the application for enrollment by simply logging onto the internet and doing a quick search for your tribe's website.
A piece of paper does not make you Indian, it simply proves you are a descendant of an Indian who happened to be a member of a federally recognized tribe. Being Indian is something only you can discover the meaning of by becoming involved in the culture, learning your language and discerning exactly what it means to you personally. That being said, it is a wonderful feeling knowing you can prove on paper that you are descended from someone who was a member of a federally recognized tribe. However, there were many tribes who were wiped out by disease, war or integration early in America's history and it's important to keep in mind that if you cannot prove your ancestry on paper it does not mean you do not have Indian ancestry. Only 20%-30% of the Native American population at the time of enrollment are actually on tribal rolls, many chose to integrate rather than suffer the stigma of being Indian in the 19th century. Ultimately, only you can determine what being Indian means to you.
Published by Regina Paul
Regina Paul is a freelance writer, editor, cover artist, and author. She edits professionally for two publishers. She has over 800 articles published online, and has published twelve books both fiction and n... View profile
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- Reasons to Find Your American Indian Ancestors Reasons someone of Native American ancestry should seek enrollment within their ancestor's tribe, as well as, the reason they shouldn't. Also some drawbacks which may be faced in doing the research.
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- "Enrollment Requirements: Finding Your Cherokee Ancestors" found on aaanativearts.com: www.aaanativearts.com/article1054.html "How to Use Indian Rolls" found on Access Genealogy: Indian Tribal Records: www.accessgenealogy.com/native/howtosearch/page2.htm "Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood" found on Answers.com: www.answers.com/topic/certificate-of-degree-of-indian-blood
- Only 20%-30% of Native Americans made it onto the rolls at the beginning time of enrollment.
- Some tribes require more than just a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood to be enrolled.
- There are different kinds of rolls used to prove Indian ancestry.
86 Comments
Post a CommentHi Carrie, you're absolutely welcome! That makes me happy that the article motivated both you and your father to dig deeper and find out more. It happened to a lot of us where grandparents and great-grandparents have white on different documents. There was a definite stigma at the time and in your case even with your grandmother being active with her culture and tribe. We know about it in my family as well, but the grandparents really tried to keep the information hidden so I can relate. Again, I'm tickled that the article was helpful to you and your family, that's great news for me. :-)
I first have to thank you for this article. My grandparents both passed when I was young and I knew about our history but my Dad never talked much about it. On my fathers birth certificate it states they were white. I hear the reason they put this had to do with shame of their race. After reading this I talked to my Dad and he called the Tribe. My grandparents were Salish and my grandmother was on the tribal counsel this does making things so easy. Thanks so much. I look forward to having my children learn their history.
I have been told by a member of my mothers side of the family that we are in part indian. it has been said shawnee, but i don't know if that is true. members of my family certainly do appear as if that is true. I have one uncle left alive along with my mother and both are in their 80's. Do I need DNA testing from my uncle, or will my Mothers DNA work. I want to know who we are because Indian culture has always facinated me. To find out this could be part of my heritage would surely be greatly appriciated. So I can tell my grandchildern who we really are. Can you help me ? Where do I look? Email... tamarahall77@yahoo.com
my grandmother is cherokee indian on my dad side.i would like to know how i can find out how much blood i got i heard you can draw a check. is this true if so how do i go about getting it. also i finded out that my great greatmother have land in washington county okla that that now has a oil on it. the pilot oil and gas company of jefferson city missouri. could you please lead me in the right way to find out my email is puffiecheeks2010@yahoo.com
Teja, clearly you did not read my article. I don't mean to be harsh but if the only reason you are interested in becoming enrolled is because you think you are going to get some money out of it, then you are doing it for the wrong reason and will not get any help from me. Also, as I've explained, this is a story, a fallacy, you don't get money just for being enrolled. It's a fairytale. So for those people that are researching their Native ancestry for this reason you should stop right there. You will not be respected by anyone including your fellow Natives for doing it for this reason. In fact, you will be treated with contempt, or at the very least pity. Really just stop if this is your only reason for researching your American Indian heritage.
i heard that i am Cherokee and that if your a certain amount of Indian you can get money is that true, and if it is how do i go about getting that information and membership
Sorry I forgot to add, If any one has any accurate info on how i can go about getting everything i need to prove how much native blood i have &if i can get enrolled than please email me at blessedwicked@gmail.com i'd really appreciate it, thank you so much!
Hi,
I am Mexican- American &I've always been told that i was Hualapai Indian as well but the thing about that is that we don't have any paperwork to prove it reason being is because we don't have any contacts with my mom's side of the family &my grandma had passed away 2yrs ago so it's very difficult to find out any info. My question is, Is there any other way that i can go about to prove how much native blood I carry? I know my husbands/ fiance's step father came across a man who somehow proved he was native american but never had any documentation to prove he was native &was enrolled and all through that tribe. How would i be able to go about proving whether or not i am native american?
Also, I've written a couple of other articles that may be helpful to you in your research. Reasons to Find Your American Indian Ancestor http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/43472/reasons_to_find_your_american_indian.html?cat=37 and How to Research Your Black Indian Ancestors http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/39245/how_to_research_your_blackindian_ancestors.html?cat=4
There are lots of questions here that are already answered in the article above, so I would ask that those of you who are asking how to start your research into your native american background begin there before posting questions in the comments section. I'm always happy to help and answer questions after you've followed the steps listed above first. These are always the first steps before you can take the next step. :-)