Very Unique SItuation

[pcoleman]

Mr. Coleman, just my view and no offense intended but doing such research should be about connecting with family. Looking up ancestry with a single goal in mind might cause you to neglect the very real benefit of meeting relatives. You have cousins, aunts, uncles, maybe sisters and brothers out there who you have never met.

They are the main reason for researching these connections. Connect with family and meet them so you'll have them with you to teach your own children. Without doing that all you'll be able to teach your children is how to do genealogical research.

Good luck.

No offense taken and believe me that is my no.1 goal. I have met my father and one of my sisters and one of my brothers. I will be meeting two more this weekend when I fly to Dallas. I have to wait till I am accepted by each and can't push my way in.

As far as the native culture, despite being basically half, they are detached as they were not raised in it. My grandparents moved off the Rez and my father became CEO of a large company. I think I am the only one who has visited one of the Rez's.

[pcoleman]

Not unique ! We hear it all the time. Choctaws don't go by blood quantum , they go by lineage. Connect the dots , prove lineage and get registered ! Then you can claim to be "Choctaw" even though you know nothing about it !

So if I am able to add my father to the birth certificate they will accept that?

[Josiah]

Let me start by saying that I know I do not have the right to currently call myself Native American. That it is more than DNA and blood but a culture and community.

With that said, I grew up not knowing who my father was. On top of that, my mother did not know who her father was. As a result, I knew very little about my heritage.

Last April, now 37, I took an Ancestry DNA test. I have since uploaded my results to other sites and my Native American ancestry DNA ranged from %48-%56 depending on site. So I finally asked my mother about my father. She told me she met him while living in Oklahoma, gave me his name and city of birth. After 8-straight hours of research I was able to find him and his daughter was a match on FamilyTreeDNA a few weeks later.

His mother was 100% and father was 50%. After further research my mom had a grandfather on dawes but at a much less percentage. So I have become consumed with research and study. I had no idea how bad they Natives were currently mistreated.

**I want my family to understand and embrace their culture and heritage. My youngest are even learning to speak Choctaw. However, I don't think I can ever join a tribe or get a CDIB card (which I would only want if needed to join a tribe). However, I doubt my father will go on my birth certificate and don't know if it is possible or would matter. His wife has not been excited about the news of me. My mothers father is dead.

Do I have any options. I know I don't need it to teach and train my children but I also have a longing to belong. I know 99% of benefits people think Natives get are BS and of the 1% I want none. I just want to belong to and fight with the people of my heritage.

No not unique
Actually pretty common
Choctaws along with 19 other tribes do not require Blood Quantum
so its a matter of proving those are your Lineage.
Actually this is two different issues!
To belong to a tribe is to be granted Citizenship which is the tribe saying yes you meet our criteria to be considered a citizen.

The other part to this is what you are worried about and that is the Language and CULTURE of the tribe.
When a baby is born to parents that are Choctaw citizens that right is also passed to the child.
But they are TAUGHT the LANGUAGE and CULTURE as they grow up!

Same in your case
First become the citizen then learn the culture

Next step is to contact the Office of Registration:

https://www.choctawnation.com/membership-information

[BDI's]

Mr. Coleman, just my view and no offense intended but doing such research should be about connecting with family. Looking up ancestry with a single goal in mind might cause you to neglect the very real benefit of meeting relatives. You have cousins, aunts, uncles, maybe sisters and brothers out there who you have never met.

They are the main reason for researching these connections. Connect with family and meet them so you'll have them with you to teach your own children. Without doing that all you'll be able to teach your children is how to do genealogical research.

Good luck.

[wardancer]

Not unique ! We hear it all the time. Choctaws don't go by blood quantum , they go by lineage. Connect the dots , prove lineage and get registered ! Then you can claim to be "Choctaw" even though you know nothing about it !

[pcoleman]

Let me start by saying that I know I do not have the right to currently call myself Native American. That it is more than DNA and blood but a culture and community.

With that said, I grew up not knowing who my father was. On top of that, my mother did not know who her father was. As a result, I knew very little about my heritage.

Last April, now 37, I took an Ancestry DNA test. I have since uploaded my results to other sites and my Native American ancestry DNA ranged from %48-%56 depending on site. So I finally asked my mother about my father. She told me she met him while living in Oklahoma, gave me his name and city of birth. After 8-straight hours of research I was able to find him and his daughter was a match on FamilyTreeDNA a few weeks later.

His mother was 100% and father was 50%. After further research my mom had a grandfather on dawes but at a much less percentage. So I have become consumed with research and study. I had no idea how bad they Natives were currently mistreated.

**I want my family to understand and embrace their culture and heritage. My youngest are even learning to speak Choctaw. However, I don't think I can ever join a tribe or get a CDIB card (which I would only want if needed to join a tribe). However, I doubt my father will go on my birth certificate and don't know if it is possible or would matter. His wife has not been excited about the news of me. My mothers father is dead.

Do I have any options. I know I don't need it to teach and train my children but I also have a longing to belong. I know 99% of benefits people think Natives get are BS and of the 1% I want none. I just want to belong to and fight with the people of my heritage.