Thoughts about doing your Native American Genealogy

If you're trying to find documents to prove that you're Native American, then you need to believe in yourself. For example, there are people who are already Indians, have government cards to "prove" it, and are still not considered to be Indian by some others. You are going to need to have faith in yourself when you are challenged by all those people, Indian or non-Indian, who utter the famous phrase (all together now), "You're not an Indian!" (Note: extra points for those who shouted out the companion phrase, "You don't look like an Indian!").

The truth is that Indians should know better than this. If we booted everyone who wasn't a "fullblood" off the continent, there wouldn't be enough Indians left to have one nation, let alone five hundred. Non-Indians should also know better, but you don't want to get me started on that. After five hundred years of intermarriage, what does an Indian "look" like? And do we really want to get into race theories about who's "full-blood" and who's "mixed-blood?" Even to mention those words implies that there is some sort of racial purity thing going on. I only call myself a "mixed-blood" because it's a handy way of placing me in the Indian community. I certainly don't mean that my blood is less "pure." And what is the scientific test for measuring Indian "blood?" Is your blood B positive, AB negative, or Indian?

My point is this. Whoever is challenging you, probably doesn't know anything about you, your family, or your ancestors. So, how do they know who you are, or are not? Don't take their word for it! Go out and prove it to yourself.

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