<p>Today I found out that my grandma on my dad's side was 50% Native American. I have always considered myself 50% Japanese and 50% Caucasian, but now it is 50% Japanese, 37.5% Caucasian and 12.5% Native American. Though due to my lack of knowledge of my heritage I have never considered myself Native American, I am intrigued by both my own family history, and the question it begs; How little is enough? Am I entitled to put down Native American on my application? Let's be honest, we all know Native blood is very helpful for getting into colleges. Is it morally wrong for me to put that down? Thoughts?</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d go ahead and put it down. You should use every tool that’s in your favor to help you in the admission’s race. After all, you are not being dishonest in the slightest. I have several Caucasian/Asian mixes who elected not to check the “Asian” box in their applications, and seeing their acceptances, their decision undoubtedly helped them.</p>
<p>You can put down anything you want. How an individual college then views your background depends on its policies. Last time I dug into this, colleges in areas with large NA populations (esp the midwest), were more concerned that you have a tribal enrollment number before they would consider you NA. There’s space for this id on the CA now. (There are tribes that would consider 1/8 sufficient, even 1/16. But for enrollment, usually you would also have to prove your grandmother’s legtimate and registered status as a member. That’s more complicated.) </p>
<p>Even if a school takes your background on your word, they usually expect to see some affiliation with the culture or some continued interest- something that makes this identity real to you, personally. One option is to use your new enthusiasm to dig into family history and somewhere (even in Addl Info) write a short bit about the research and some experiences.</p>
<p>@Dakoolaid
Why would putting down Asian hurt me? I thought that they wanted diversity.</p>
<p>You need to find out your grandmothers enrollment number and your Dad’s since he is 1/4 according to your information. Most tribes require at least 1/4 blood degree for enrollment which would not be the case for you since you are 1/8. If you have no documentation of your grandmothers’s tribal membership then it will not be possible for you to prove it.</p>
<p>The Choctaw Nation doesn’t have a minimum blood requirement. You just have to be a direct decendant of a Dawes enrollee. My husband and 3 children are all members of the tribe.</p>
<p>Dd has been filling out the common app and since we are native she identified herself. They asked tribe and enrollment number. To be enrolled in our tribe you have to be at least 25% quantum. We are ojibway</p>
On the Common Application, it asks for a Tribal Enrollment Number in the Demographics section. On my tribal ID (Choctaw), I don’t see any enrollment number. Should I just leave the section blank?