Native American Rights Fund, National Indian Law Library, Resources About Native American Tribal Enrollment

Resources by Topic | Native American Tribal Enrollment

How to Use This Web Page

This web page provides links to information about tribal enrollment. If this guide has been mailed to you, use the web site address printed at the bottom of the page to access the guide on the Internet. If you do not have access to the Internet at home, contact your local libraries and ask if they provide Internet access.

The web sites highlighted below have more to offer than what is specifically mentioned. Therefore, you may wish to explore other resources from these web sites. Likewise, other resources may exist about tribal enrollment. The National Indian Law Library invites your comments about this web page. If you think an additional site should be linked, please let the library know. You can send an Email (mmartens@narf.org), call, or write.

Enrollment Resources

Tribal Requirements

Indian tribes are sovereign and set their own rules regarding tribal enrollment and membership. In order to find out what requirements your Tribe has, contact the Tribe's main office or tribal enrollment office. Tribal office contact information can be found at the "Directories" section of this web site (http://www.narf.org/nill/resources/directories.htm).

In addition, enrollment or membership requirements often can be found in tribal constitutions or tribal codes. The National Indian Law Library catalog has a large collection of tribal codes and constitutions (http://www.narf.org/nill/catalog/catalog.htm). Please contact us for more information.

Note: In the library's catalog search screen, you can search for codes and constitutions by typing part of the tribe's name in the "Title or Title Words" field, or "Indian Tribe" field, and typing "Tribal Codes" or "Tribal Constitutions" in the "Document Type" field.

Since most tribes have blood quantum and/or lineage requirements, you may need to trace your Indian roots by doing some genealogy research.

Additional Resources

Enrollment in a Federally Recognized Tribe
http://www.doi.gov/enrollment.html

This web page from the U.S. Department of the Interior web site provides a brief description of the tribal enrollment process. See the department's main "Indian Ancestry" web page at http://www.doi.gov/ancestry.html.

Understanding the History of Tribal Enrollment
http://www.airpi.org/pubs/enroll.html

This web site provides an article by the American Indian Policy Center and Nora Livesay on the history of tribal enrollment. Other resources on tribal enrollment are at http://www.airpi.org/pubs/index.html.

Enrollment Procedures and Recourse
http://thorpe.ou.edu/OILS/enroll.html

This article, one of several publications provided by Oklahoma Indian Legal Services (http://madison.law.ou.edu/OILS/), was written by Gregg L. Lewis, University of Oklahoma, Native American Studies student.

Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaska Native Blood
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=00-9421-filed

April 18, 2000 Federal Register notice explaining what this certificate is. (See "Background.") Information about this certificate is on at least one tribe's web site -- that of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (http://www.cherokee.org/Services/TribalRegistration.asp). For more information about this card, contact the tribe you are affiliated with or the Bureau of Indian Affairs (http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html).