My daughter is part Native American and we can trace it to two specific tribes in the 1800’s. Unfortunately we’re not registered members of either tribe. We’re not expecting and Native American specific scholarships but plan to check the box on applications. Do they require official proof? Thanks
When you check the Native American box on the Common App, it use to open a second question asking for your tribe and registry number. I believe you can leave that blank but I’m not sure what that does for you. Anyone can do the same.
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Only for cases where they want to see tribal enrollment.
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Do you still reside on Tribal land? Do you attend and participate in the daily cultural events?
You can check the box, but if you aren’t registered, or haven’t participated in the cultural events, then I doubt if it will go any further.
My grandfather was ~ ¼ NA and the tribal elders were aware of our family, but we were never registered since our GF never bothered to register. We lived away from the area where our family had land, and had only participated in tribal events about once a year. (Father was drafted and decided to stay in California).
We could have registered later, but our father felt that there was a difference in quality of life living on tribal land; it was a LOT harder. He felt that there were so many other young people who lived on the land, worked, or participated in the cultural events, and were “registered”, not only by the shared heritage, but also by their actions. It’s a different way of thinking, living and being. A number of us are NA, but don’t claim it on our college applications. Our children really couldn’t claim it because they had only been to a few events when younger.
I don’t know if you are trying to get funding or acceptance, but make sure you are aware of what it means to state NA on current applications. It is a very cultural, “heart of being” thing. At one point in time and history, we were shamed if we did claim NA ancestry.
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My son-in-law had to prove official registry in a tribe. This was 7+ years ago. His brother also had to provide documentation as of 5 years ago. They both attended in-state (NC) publics.
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When I check it, an optional text box open that says “Please tell us about your tribal identity or affiliation”. I had no problems continuing after leaving it blank.
Is a mandatory field/requirement to enter a registry number found somewhere other than the Profile section?
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My father’s family is part Beothuk, but we are completely out of luck since tribe is considered to be extinct.
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As I indicated above, my recollection is that the field could be left blank.
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One of my kid’s high school classmates has documentation from a tribe that is near extinction. All the kids in their family were highly recruited by T20 colleges. I don’t know about the siblings but the classmate was an average student, no AP classes and is at a T20. The siblings also went to T20’s.
Apparently their tribe is a highly desirable addition to some college’s profiles.
My son-in-law jokes that his NA heritage got him into his college, but he’s very intelligent and accomplished on his own, so I’m sure his stats spoke for themselves.
Need some context here, since the elite skew on these forums often means that an “average student” has a 3.9 GPA at a selective admission high school that offers few or no AP classes because it believes that it can offer better classes.
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I don’t have specifics, sorry. I just know what level classes the student was in compared to my child. I don’t know their GPA. AP classes are offered but it’s not a public school and students have to test into the AP classes. Admission to those is competitive because class space is limited. Those who aren’t able to test in, typically fall back into the honors version of those classes.
I realize my use of “average” may not meet the cc definition.
I remember a college classmate getting in trouble because he checked NA and couldn’t “prove” it. This was late 70’s. When I was in financial aid, a couple of my students had NA scholarships (not from the school), and they told me that they had to be registered in order to apply for them.
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In real life, every time someone whines about an “Average Student” at a top college (and implies some unfairness to the situation, affirmative action, etc.) some salient fact gets revealed eventually which puts it all in context.
One kid from my town- no AP’s, zero EC’s (or so it was said). He was a published novelist (by a commercial publisher, not self-published and edited by his mom) and was not doing AP’s because he was enrolled in college courses, but because he was young for his grade, his parents didn’t want him graduating at 14 and just getting on with it.
His race turned out to be completely irrelevant.
Was he the "tennis playing, NHS president, 5000 hours volunteering at the Key Club " kid?
No. We have plenty of those. This kid was something special.
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While not being registered members of the tribes you traced your daughter’s heritage to may limit your eligibility for certain tribal-specific scholarships, it’s still worth checking with each scholarship program or institution to see what their requirements are. Some scholarships may have specific criteria for proof of Native American heritage, such as tribal enrollment or documentation from recognized tribal authorities.
@Joe_Suarez if this is your real name, I would urge you to change your screen name. Here is how:
I know a recent applicant who checked the box that they were NA but they were not enrolled in a tribe so they left that part blank. They received a follow-up inquiry from at least one school asking for further information on their cultural identity, participation in tribal activities, etc.