Hey guys, this is my first post. So I already sent in all of my applications, to all of the ivy leagues and several other colleges. My mother got genetically tested, and just found out today that she’s 40% Native American, which would make me 1/5. So my question is, should I contact colleges and tell them? I checked white on my applications, but it’s feel this would help my application. Should I send emails, or call admissions?
Nope. As someone not enrolled in and with no cultural connection to a tribe it won’t help at all. In fact it will likely hurt you because you’ll look like you’re trying to worm your way into the school by claiming a false heritage.
Do not contact admissions.
No. I believe you have to go through a registration/enrollment process. And if you are finding out it is highly doubtful that you are culturally Native American. http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/000293/
Two issues:
- I believe that you will need to verify this by being on the Dawes Rolls. Someone else may be able to shed more light on this, but I think that is what constitutes a meaningful relationship because that's what could link you to a nation or tribe. You can view them online, so you'll (relatively) quickly what you can establish from that.
- The harder issue here is what you will say about this if you contact admissions. Do you identify with or have ties to this culture? Did you grow up on a reservation? In other words, how are you now a different candidate than the person who checked white in December?
From this very brief intro, it doesn’t sound like you’re the person who will be able to bring a Native American perspective to a campus or that your background is substantially of this culture. I doubt it would help and it could possibly hurt to be bringing this into the game at this point. But that’s just one opinion…
I’ve read on many college applications that you have to have a tribal card to mark Native American.
Some (many?) schools require you be registered with a tribe to be considered NA. And I read on a post not long ago that tribes will NOT accept DNA testing to be considered NA. They want to see the genealogy.
http://nypost.com/2016/02/07/former-yale-admissions-officer-reveals-secrets-of-who-gets-in/
Read this former Yale admission officer’s comment about the kid who suddenly discovers they’re 1/16th Native American.
If you update any college with this new revelation of yours, it’s likely an automatic rejection for you. Get in legitimately instead of looking for some angle.
A friend’s Mom also discovered that she was mostly NA , both of her parents were taken from reservations and educated elsewhere, but she was able to trace her heritage back through the Mormons.
You have to have Dawes Roll or other proof and you’d have to actually, well, be Native American (an active participant in your tribe for years and years, meet the tribes blood quantum if not a higher one) if you’ve been white this long you’re white for life now 
Hello, I’m a member of an enrolled tribe, and Nationally recognized activist.
There are 567 Federally recognized tribes, all extremely unique and located throughout our country.
There is no DNA or genetic testing that can establish what tribe you may be from therefore they are inconclusive. Do not buy the DNA kit from the Maury show!
You will need to trace your heritage and lineal descent to an enrolled member of a specific tribe or receive a Certificate degree of Indian blood through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
This process can takes years and be very expensive because you will need to purchase every birth and death certificate back to the ancestor who was enrolled with a tribe.
Often those certificates will have a different ethnicity listed other than American Indian because many of our elders were afraid to identify as Indian. You will be lucky to find records in tact because many courthouses suffered catastrophes and loss of Records before they were digitally stored.
These are just a few obsticles. Even if you can, all of a sudden prove you are a new race, which you never knew before, or have any clue about. One does not just select a new race, check a box and gain entry to school.
If you discover you’re Native, please learn about your specific tribe, & do it from the elders on the tribal council! Our history books are full of inaccuracies and this is not something you can simply Google to learn about.
Fact: Native Americans suffer from the most despairing statistics of all ethnicities including: 504 % higher rate of alcoholism vs. Non Natives.
Highest dropout rate in high school.
Least represented ethnicity in college.
Highest rate of teen suicide. 2.5÷ higher than National average.
1 in 3 Native girls will suffer a sexual assault.
Native males under 25 suffer the most beatings at the hands of another race.
Our race is the only one depicted has a sports mascot causing misappropriation of our culture and others to mock our traditions.
We are survivors of genocide as there were bounties placed on the scalps of our ancestors and a mass effort to eradicate us.
Being Native is a pride and respect that cannot be learned quickly. It is more than a check in a box.
Learn more at: www.nativeNERDS.org or CNAY.org
I serve as a youth ambassador for President Obama with other exceptional Native youth creating change for our people. Check out Generation Indigenous !
Blessings -
Very well-said @KickingBear^.
Great, informative post @KickingBear
@TooOld4School I think your friend’s situation is different than OP’s her, grandparents were both NA
My grandfather is on the Dawes Roll, but most Native nations do not use it for membership and have no historical or geographic connection with it. Please google Dawes Roll to see which tribes it covers.
Also, this blood quantum comment by someone who knows nothing about it is really insulting. As sovereign nations, each tribe determines its own policies: blood quantum, descent through the mother, adoption into the tribe, a host of things. Please do not give ignorant advice.