How can you tell if you are native american with out asking family for history?

Question:Ok so my son was wrongfullt taken and the onlything i can think of to get around the county is the tribal courts. I am like 1/4th native American but i cant ask my great grandma anything about it.Its the family's dirty secret.My great grandma cheated on my great grandpa when he was at war with a native american and my grandmother was the result. she was given up for adoption and its a sore subject. with the family. but i need this to come out with out involving them any suggestions?

real answers only please. if you want to refer to my son being taken educate yourself before talking about it.

http://www.myspace.com/bring_jordan_home

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Ok so my son was wrongfullt taken and the onlything i can think of to get around the county is the tribal courts. I am like 1/4th native American but i cant ask my great grandma anything about it.Its the family's dirty secret.My great grandma cheated on my great grandpa when he was at war with a native american and my grandmother was the result. she was given up for adoption and its a sore subject. with the family. but i need this to come out with out involving them any suggestions?

real answers only please. if you want to refer to my son being taken educate yourself before talking about it.

http://www.myspace.com/bring_jordan_home

From www.emayzine.com/lectures/native%20ameri...
Physical Traits (of Native Americans):

Native Americans are physically most similar to Asian populations and appear to have descended from Asian peoples who migrated across the Bering land bridge during the Pleistocene epoch, also known as the Ice Age, beginning perhaps some 30,000 years ago.

Like other peoples with Mongolian characteristics, Native Americans tend to have light brown skin, brown eyes, and dark, straight hair. They differ from Asians, however, in their characteristic blood types .
Because many Native Americans today have had one or more European-Americans or African-Americans among their ancestors, numerous people who are legally and culturally Native American may look fairer or darker than Mongolian peoples or may have markedly non-Mongolian facial features.

Some populations (such as those on the Great Plains of North America) tend to be tall and often heavy in build, whereas others (for example, many in the South American Andes and adjacent lowlands) tend to be short and broad chested.
The Plateau Region of Idaho, eastern Oregon and Washington, western Montana, and adjacent Canada, mountains are covered with evergreen forests and separated by grassy valleys. People lived in villages made up of sunken round houses in winter and camped in mat houses in summer. They dried quantities of salmon and camas (plants with edible bulbs) for winter eating, and on the lower Columbia River, at the site of the present-day city of The Dalles, Oregon, the Wishram and Wasco peoples kept a market town where travelers from the Pacific Coast and the Plains could meet, trade, and buy dried food.
Plateau peoples include the Nez Perce, Wallawalla, Yakima, and Umatilla in the Sahaptian language family, the Flathead, Spokane, and Okanagon in the Salishan language family, and the Cayuse and Kutenai (with no linguistic relatives).

The Northwest Pacific Coast , from southern Alaska to northern California, and the tribes found here are the Tlingit, Tsimshian, Haida, Kwakiutl, Nootka, Chinook, Salish, Makah, and Tillamook.
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1. Your grandmother was 1/2 Native American, since it was her father who was full-blood (I am assuming); your mother would be 1/4; and you would be 1/8; your kids would be 1/16
(as the old joke goes, "if they have a nosebleed, they are out of the tribe". I know, because I am the same percentage).

2. It may be a "dirty secret" but be proud of your heritage, regardless the percentage. If you have lived in that area of the US all your life, I am assuming one of the PLATEAU REGION tribes mentioned above would be the one you are affiliated with.

3. You can go through other courts beside a tribal court to get your son back (and after reading your story on the website you gave, I hope to God you succeed). His s.o.b. of a father needs to cool his heels a bit behind bars--as a spouse abuser (the name for him even if you are not married to him), "dead-beat Dad" for nonpayment of child support; and/or even attempted murder for the times he nearly beat you to death. There are attorneys who specialize in these fields, and sometimes will try cases "Pro bono", which stands for "pro bono publico", Latin for "for the public good." (It means free legal services peformed by lawyers to help people with legal problems and limited or no funds). Or, you can go through your county's Legal Aid service. These are fully-licensed attorneys who chose to work for people who can't afford lawyers any other way, and are not the same as "Paralegals"--who cannot try cases. They do mainly research (definition: "A paralegal is someone without a law license who performs routine tasks requiring some knowledge of the law and procedures. Paralegals perform substantive and procedural legal work as authorized by law, which work, in the absence of the paralegal, would be performed by an attorney. Paralegals have knowledge of the law gained through education, or education and work experience, which qualifies them to perform legal work. Usually paralegals have taken paralegal courses in law and legal processes, but others acquire their knowledge through on-the-job training. The paralegal cannot have been convicted of a felony nor be under suspension, termination, or revocation of a certificate, registration, or license by any entity.)
From what I read in your story, you could also get him (JJ's father) for this legally: "PAIN AND SUFFERING
is the physical and mental anguish suffered from an injury, including broken bones and torn ligaments, etc., but also the aches, pain, temporary and permanent limitations on activity, potential shortening of life, depression and embarrassment from disfigurement and scarring. Pain and suffering are part of the "general damages" recoverable by someone injured by another's negligence or intentional attack. "

Pain and suffering reports that are developed by an expert witness can help the judge and jury understand the details of treating an injury. In some states, the representative of a deceased person may sue a wrongdoer for the pain and suffering the deceased experienced before death. The court's award for non-pecuniary damages is based on a number of factors including:

1.the type of injuries you have suffered,
2.the severity and duration of your pain,
3.the effect of your injuries on your enjoyment of life and your sports and hobbies,
4. the problems you may suffer in the future and
5. the weight of the evidence you are able to supply that you actually suffered these problems.

Now, about that doctor saying Candida is not a disease--though it is fairly common, it IS a medical condition. "Candidiasis--its full name-- is an infection caused by a group of microscopic fungi or yeast. There are more than 20 species of CANDIDA, the most common being Candida albicans. These fungi live on all surfaces of our bodies. Under certain conditions, they can become so numerous they cause infections, particularly in warm and moist areas. Examples of such infections are vaginal yeast infections, thrush (in the mouth; babies who breast-feed can get it this way), skin and diaper rash, and nailbed infections.
Typical affected areas in babies include the mouth and diaper areas. Even common mouth and vaginal yeast infections can cause critical illness and can be more resistant to normal treatment. Yeast infections that return may be a sign of more serious diseases such as diabetes, leukemia, or AIDS. But pregnancy, menstruation, sperm, diabetes, and birth control pills also can contribute to getting a yeast infection.
In people who have a weakened immune system because of cancer treatments, steroids, or diseases such as AIDS, candidal infections can occur throughout the entire body and can be life-threatening. The blood, brain, eye, kidney, and heart are most frequently affected, but the candidal fungus also can grow in the lungs, liver, and spleen. Candida is the leading cause of esophagitis (inflammation in the throat) in people with AIDS." --That is just part of the article listed below in my sources. That doctor should have his license revoked, too.

Last but not least: CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING CLEAN AND SOBER ALL THIS TIME!! I'm proud of you!!! My entire family had to threaten to disown my nephew before he realized family meant more than a "drug high" and he went cold turkey from meth, too. He is a totally different person now than he was even 5 years ago, with a good job and is supporting his own family. You can do it, too. God bless you!!

DNA testing is popular now, did you consider it?

DNA testing would confirm that you were part Native American, but it wouldn't confirm membership in a particular tribe. Different tribes, of course, determine tribal membership by different percentages of blood. Your genetic great grandfather may have been a full-blooded Native American, or he might have been only part Native American.

If birth certificates were kept in Washington state when your grandmother was born (and that's a big if because if she was born at home, it probably wouldn't have been recorded), as a family member, you can look up her birth certificate in the county courthouse where she was born. Ordinarily, birth certificates from the 1930s through the 1960s give both the name of the mother and the name of the father. Also, if US Census records are available for your grandmother in 1930, the census taker, relying on his or her observations, may have noted that your grandmother was "Indian" or possibly "mulatto".

In the meantime, ask your local bar association to recommend an attorney who would be willing to take your case.

one of my standard answers here in genealogy, is that it ALL depends on documentation. Grandma's adoption (if through a court) is sealed, and the birth cert would be amended. DNA tests will verify your percentage of native heritage, but I personally am completely skeptical that the court would allow that as an argument.
The other place where documentation is CRITICAL is in court, in a custody issue. The documentation of dad's abuse is the jail record. Proving that there were false reports filed against you is the tricky issue. Most states encourage false reports because they WANT people to come forward, and they are safe, as long as it cannot be absolutely proven that the reports were KNOWINGLY false. Also.. most states will note that a parent who is documented as abuse towards either the other parent or the child, cannot be awarded custody.
The terrifying part is that the court where you are, is not alone. I can show you one in Texas that gave custody to a person who abducted the children, not once but twice... and got by with it, by hiding the first one, and committing perjury by claiming the 2nd time was "protecting the child against imminent danger". After 2 family abductions, documented physical force (against the parent by a grandparent), the parents were coerced and threatened into signing a 'voluntary agreement', without a lawyer except one that the opposing party had paid for.
MOST lawyers know the definition of fraud.. but they don't have the guts to take a fraud case because it is "too hard to prove". I hope and pray that your lawyer is not among those.
I personally think that fraud and abuse would be easier to prove, than native lineage. Even if you DID use native heritage, it still would leave it open to father having rights.
DO NOT GIVE UP. If my daughter/husband had not been too scared to testify, his mother would probably have been convicted of abduction, and they would not have lost their children.

Tribal courts do not have jurisdiction over non-natives. You must be an enrolled tribal member or "enrollable" in order to meet the legal definition of an American Indian. The Indian Child Welfare Act, used to keep American Indian children in foster care, adoption, etc. with American Indian families, only applies to children who are enrolled tribal members or "enrollable" with their tribe. In your case, if your grandmother is a result of a non-native and an assumed "full-blood" that "full blood" may have been enrolled. Find out the person's name and the tribe they are from and contact the tribe directly. Assuming the person is "full blood" you grandmother would be 1/2, your mother 1/4, you 1/8, and your child 1/16. Depending on the tribe your "full blood" great grandfather is from, your blood quantum of 1/8 and your child's blood quantum of 1/16 may not be enough to be "enrollable."