How to Find My Native Heritage
You may be one of the many Americans whose family legend speaks of an American Indian ancestor somewhere in your family roots, yet nobody can say exactly where. Sometimes the legend of a Native American ancestor is exactly that--a legend. But in some cases there may be some truth to the family mythology. Tracing your Native American heritage begins the same way as if you were tracing another part of your ancestry. You begin with yourself and work back. You need documented proof of your Native ancestry before reaching out to a tribe for more information.
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Instructions
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Do a DNA test. Before you set off looking for your indigenous forebears, you might want to physically corroborate that there's actually something to find. To verify that you have a Native ancestor through your maternal line, take an mtDNA test. To verify that you have a Native ancestor through your paternal line, take a Y-DNA test. Since the Y chromosome passes exclusively from father to son, women cannot take this test. Women will have to recruit a male blood member of the family such as a brother or uncle to take the test.
The test looks for markers in your DNA which are consistent with members of Native cultures. The fee for each test ranges from approximately $100 to $200.
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Proceed with basic genealogical research. Beginning with yourself, backtrack your maternal or paternal family line as far back as you can go. Interview older relatives to help you with this. Gather any documents you have on hand to help you start your family research, such as a family bible which documents the vital statistics of family members or old photos with notes written on the back.
Verify the information you've gathered from your resources against public records. For instance, check public records for your ancestors' birth, death, and marriage certificates; look for your ancestors in census records; track down your ancestors' property, school, and military service records. Use whatever else you discover about your ancestors in public records to trace your family line back further until you find your Native ancestor.
To dig deeper into your Native roots through public records, you need to know the full name of your Native American ancestor, the federally-recognized tribe they belonged to, approximately when this ancestor lived, and in what territory they lived.
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Research the migration history of your ancestors' tribe; it may help you to keep track of them in records.
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Check the Native American collection at the National Archives, which includes special censuses, school and allotment records, and the Dawes Rolls. The Dawes Rolls is a registry of tribal enrollment for members of the five "civilized" tribes--Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw--who were relocated to Oklahoma. The rolls span from the 19th to early 20th century. Check these rolls if your ancestor was a member of one of these tribes who received land in Oklahoma Indian territory. Look for your Native ancestor in the special Indian census only if they lived in a predominantly Indian territory. Natives living in the general population are listed in the general census.
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Use the Bureau of Indian Affairs "Tribal Leaders Directory" to contact the tribe your Native ancestor belonged to and learn what resources they can offer you to assist in your research. The BIA does not assist in genealogical research.
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- Photo Credit indian costume image by Steve Lovegrove from Fotolia.com
