> I have a question regarding this custom of > determining the line of descendcy > from the mother regarding "native american" culture. > In strict genealogical > terms, at what point is the reference valid? I had a hard time following what exactly are you asking. However, if you are asking about men becoming members of the tribe to which he marries (in essence going to his wife's tribe) then... First, not all tribes are matrilineal. Meaning not all men go to the wifes tribe. And just because an Indian man marries a caucasian woman doesn't mean he is not indian - this is only referring to tribal affiliation - he would still be Indian. How it affects his tribal affiliation probably depends on the tribe. They may choose to adopt his wife into the tribe and then she would be of the tribe, but as I said it would vary by tribe. But I imagine if the woman had no tribe then they would remain with the man's tribe (if they so chose). If you are trying to determine how long down the line you could be consider Indian. My opinion is that you will always be of Indian descent. As for "legally" that varies by tribe. Each tribe has it's own membership requirements. Some require as much as 1/2. You would have to contact the tribe to find out what their tribal requirements are (or look and see if they have a website.). The degree of Indian blood requirements were originally established by the Government I believe. I think some of the criteria are being looked at as the tribal membership dwindle to nothing (which was the original intent some believe). Hope this helps some.