How to Determine Your Native American Percentage

Many people have a small portion of Native American heritage.

Many inhabitants of the Americas have Native Americans heritage. Many people would like to know the percentage of their bloodline for genealogical purposes. Having a significant fraction of Native American heritage can qualify you for certain scholarships, tax credits, or other forms of government aid. Determining the percentage of your Native American bloodline is the result of some very simple math.

Instructions

1. Determine how many of your recent ancestors were full-blooded Native Americans. Going back more than four generations is only useful for genealogical curiosity, as any Native American ancestors further back than your great grandparents are unlikely to have contributed enough genetic material for official purposes.

2. Convert each full blood Native American, not including their own parents, into a fraction. A parent would represent 1/2, a grandparent 1/4, a great grandparent 1/8, and a great great grandparent 1/16.

3. Add the fractions together. For example, a Native American grandfather on your father's side and a great grandmother on your mother's side would make you 3/8 Native American.

4. Divide the numerator by the denominator to arrive at your percentage. 3/8 converts to 37.5%.

References

• Looking For Your Cherokee Ancestors: Who is an Indian?