Carla The degree of Indian Blood is an artificial statement based on a a series of past documents about how much "Indian blood" a person possesses. In earlier times, the blood amount was calculated (guessed) by the person conducting the census. There were no documents or other records that "proved" the amount of Indian blood and individual possessed. For government purposes, it is not the specific degree of Indian blood by tribe that can be attributed to a person -- it is the total amount of Indian blood. Therefore, like your questions asks, the Choctaw blood and the Cherokee blood would be added together for Federal Government purposes. However, for membership in the tribe, unless the tribal constitution specifically allowed for a combination of blood, then the person would have to meet the tribe's criteria. That requirement would have nothing to do with the Federal government. Lathel ----- Original Message ----- ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIAN-TERRITORY-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com<mailto:INDIAN-TERRITORY-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
Thanks, Lathel. The reason I ask is my husband is considered 1/16 Choctaw, which is enough for Choctaw Tribal Membership, so I gain nothing by asking on that front. But I was curios, because while his CDIB says 1/16, his great grandma and grandpa were choctaw as well, and their parents on both side, with one of them at least being Cherokee as well. To what degree I don't know. They are all on Dawes, with roll numbers on the Paternal side, and MCR Choctaw on the Maternal. Then the Paternal sides parents were Choctaw on both sides. So you can see 1/16th seems wrong, not that it would matter legally. Clear as mud? LOL! I found the Case #'s so I wondered if that was something else altogether, or what. I'd love to have the documents, especially the interviews....that'd be awesome! My side is the name Wood, who all say we have Indian blood, but I cannot find the connection. Most Wood were MCR on the Dawes, and just the names aren't enough to go by. Carla