Hey "sparklineyes" this is Jes...long time no talk. I would also like to point out, that if we talk about "native" by ability to carry a "card"....yes we need to be able to trace back to the rolls (Eastern Cherokee, different rolls than Western). But if you read the account of the Creeks, and how they felt about the "rolls", you'll see it was the last ditch effort, of the US Government, to assimilate them into the white culture; by breaking up their communal culture, and assigning land as the white culture did. This was done to open OK to statehood (once again about money and resources), and settling of non native folks. There is a good article written about the native sentiment....called "Of Snakes and Scribes" (paraphrased). This is also chronicled as the biggest theft of land by those pretending to be native...who were not. No investigation, or retribution was ever done to make it right either. But, if we are talking about carrying blood, and tradition.....then I say that to count yourself as native, by the US governments method is buying into that whole thing. Trace your ancestry....and see if you can trace it back to the original territories assigned to the tribe. If you can't document it, so be it, but in your heart you know you are native. Also, the describing of ethnicity as "black dutch" or "black irish" is a pretty good sign you are on the right track. Also, look at the traditions in your families...were there healers....was there a reverence for the land and your caretaking of it....the gathering of herbs.....etc. Those are also good "clues" combined with other information. Their are traditions of the tribes from the plains areas, that have to do with horse breeding and training. For instance the Nez Perz, are counted as the owers, breeders, etc., of the Appaloosa horse. It is a good thing to know what tribes inhabited what areas.....before the onslaught of the eastern europeans. But, then you will also have to follow the individual histories of each of those tribes, to see where they ended up....or parts of them ended up. That in itself is a major class at some universities. However, I do know that each tribe (both Western and Eastern Cherokee), who have websites today....many...have individual histories on them. So, find out who was where, and get online to do your research. This will also educate you as to how these tribes are functioning in todays world. Understanding that at the time of the first invasions...there were over 200 tribes....and now there are over 500. jes This sharing of mutual histories is always beneficial. But if we are talking about establishing proof to ourselves that there is a likelihood that we have native blood, being a card carrying member is not always nesessary. We know what's in our hearts and minds.