a. If the tribe allows her and her theoretical children to register as members, and whether they actually do register.
b. If the specific scholarship allows descendents of tribally enrolled members to qualify (e.g. the one linked in #10).
As far as “not living on the reservation” goes, remember that lots of African Americans have not been to Africa, lots of Latino Americans have not been to a Latin American country, lots of Asian Americans have not been to Asia, and lots of European Americans have not been to Europe.
@techmom99 the Lakota were on the front lines of fighting for rights over children who were stolen over the years. There’s a decent chance that the gf would be able to reclaim Lakota membership given that her dad was adopted out (so she never had a chance to be raised Lakota).
But, only the tribal counsel can tell you for sure what the enrollment requirements are.
@romanigypsyeyes You are probably right, I had the incorrect state. It is actually a tribe in North Carolina that he was attempting to become a formal member of (if that is what you would call it). Sorry for the confusion.
Rules for Tribal membership vary from Tribe to Tribe including the amount of blood quantum, but the Cherokee Tribe does not have a minimum BQ requirement for membership. The link provided in #2 would be very helpful for the OP and yes, it will require significant family history documentation. Here are a couple of links to specific requirements of the Cherokee Tribe of OK (There is also the Eastern Branch in NC which most likely has different requirements). http://www.cherokee.org/Services/Tribal-Citizenship/Citizenship http://www.cherokee.org/Services/Tribal-Citizenship/Genealogy-Information
There is a lot of other good information on the Tribal Website.
Though the OP may not receive any type of scholarship even if he/she is able to successfully trace and document his/her heritage and then apply and receive Tribal membership, I would not discourage the OP from making the attempt to do this. The Cherokee Tribe does not have a minimum blood quantum to become a Tribal member. Becoming a Tribal member may not get the OP any scholarships, but there are other benefits of Tribal membership that could be helpful in the future including free or reduced health care at IHS facilities. In addition, the BIA and the Cherokee Tribe have an “Indian Preference” hiring policy, and applicants who are Tribal members are given very strong preference in hiring over persons with no NA ancestry. And they generally don’t care much if the applicant has ties to their culture - they just want qualified applicants for the positions. FYI, many jobs are in large cities - not on remote Indian reservations. The link in #2 gives additional information on other benefits available to Tribal members.
