Change from White to Native American?

YOU have to prove your direct lineage back to that person on the Dawes Roll, using birth, marriage and death certificates. Once you can do that you can apply for membership in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. As part of the process you have to apply to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for a CDIB card. (Certified Degree of Indian Blood) they will need all of the same proof of your lineage. And don't get in a hurry either, it won't help, you will be one of 1000's trying to get membership in the Nation.

You can find all the requirements at the Cherokee website at: http://www.cherokee.org/

Once you are accepted as a member of the Nation you can then legally claim to be Native American on government forms.

But that is only part of the picture. How much do you know about your Cherokee heritage and the culture that comes with it?? It doesn't matter how much Cherokee blood you have running through your veins, if you don't know anything about the culture and what it's like to be Cherokee then no matter what you will never be accepted by the people, even though you can claim membership in the Nation. And don't count on any big monetary benefits either, there just aren't that many. Mostly tuition help and medical benefits.

"Native American" and "American Indian" are LEGAL TERMS reserved for members/citizens of US federally recognized tribes. Having an ancestor on any tribe's rolls makes you a descendant. In order for you or your mother to legally claim American Indian as your ethnicity, you must enroll with the tribe from which you descend, in this case Cherokee. If, in fact, you are a direct descendant of someone on the Dawes Rolls, contact the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. You will have to provide birth/death certificates linking you to your mother to your grandmother to your ggrandmother to your gggrandmother who you indicated was on the rolls. Since the CNO does not require a minimum blood quota, that would be all that is needed to obtain citizenship with the CNO. http://www.cherokee.org/

Chat With the people At Your Local Cherokee reservation, Perhaps Change the Nationality On Some Of Your Details And Include It When Descrbing Yourself X

You need to contact the Cherokee reservation on Quallah boundary in North Carolina...

They will tell you how it's done and send you the proper papers you will need to fill out. Please be aware, it is NOT an easy process and can take years. YOU must be able to provide and prove DIRECT lineage to the persons on the Dawes (or any other) Roll.

They won't just take your word for it..you have to provide what they ask for - and there's the rub. Unless your family has kept meticulous records or unless you can search through census, birth and death, marriage records from past years, you will never find what you need.

Well then your grandmother is native American

You can't but your mother can. I believe the cut-off is 1/8 and if it's your maternal great, great grandmother, your mother makes the cut, not you.

Um...I'm kind of hoping you mean in papers, because the other would not be possible... Although if you didn't grow up as one of them, then I think you fit in it as strictly DNA and that's about it. Far as I know, culture makes up a huge portion of being part of them.

tara J, u need to get off the native americans back, i dont believe your story you told me cause iv never seen them act that way. as for the question, i got no clue, hopefully someone does.

Just say you're part Native American. I am too.

you need to get in contact with the nearest reservation & they should be able to help you out or give you some advice on how to go about this process.