How to Find Out If You Are Indian
- 1). Do basic family genealogical research. Interview family members, relatives, and close family friends. Make use of online genealogical resources for researching your family tree. Compile documentation such as birth and death certificates, baptismal and marriage records, and photographs. Use the information to outline a family tree. Look for American Indian names within the family tree.
- 2). Determine what tribal affiliation your ancestor had. If you do come across an American Indian name in the family tree use online resources such as ancestry.com or nativelanguages.org to identify the tribal affiliation of your ancestor. The latter site provides a complete list of tribes broken down into specific regions in the United States and Canada.
- 3). Contact the tribe if you think your heritage can be identified with a specific tribe, or if you think you have Indian blood but you can't identify a specific ancestor in your family tree. In many cases rumors or stories about Indian heritage are linked to a specific tribe or region. Some tribes have genealogical information, census information and other resources that will help you in your search.
- 4). Investigate federal resources of information at the National Archives and Records Administration to find an elusive ancestor. Begin with "Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to the American Indian." The guide was compiled by Edward Hill in 1981 and is based on information provided by numerous Indian agencies and the Bureau for Indian Affairs. Some of the information contained in the Guide has been published in a microfilm format and is available at the National Archives. A limited amount of the information is available online. Private companies, such as Ancestry.com, has digitized additional information from the guide and has made it accessible online.
- 5). Arrange for a DNA test to identify your ancestry (see Resources). Nearly all American Indians belong to one of five mitochondrial DNA haplogroups. If you have American Indian blood your haplotype will match one of the five groups.
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