[BarbaraNP]

I spent 5 years working as an NP for a small tribe here on the coast. Only a small percentage of the population “looked” NA. There were always questions about tribal enrollment and what I learned is that it depends on where you are enrolling. Some folks were unable to enroll in their tribe because of blood quantum, where as in another tribe, someone with less blood than I have could enroll.

And me…I call myself tri-ethnic anyway. But as far as our NAI side…I only have a copy of an affidavit of birth from my paternal grandmother that list her mother as a “freed Negro” and her father as an “Indian”. No one seems to know much more than that…and those that did have long since passed.

[Thunderwolf]

I am providing here a link to a similar thread on quantum just posted.

http://allnurses.com/forums/f239/exc...nt-239163.html

No doubt, this is a topic greatly discussed by many from time to time.

Please, continue providing your most excellent feedback.

Peace

[okielpn_1]

I am a card issued Choctaw Indian, however I am also a Cherokee Indian,had to denounce this part due to government rules can only recognize and claim one tribe in the great state of Oklahoma. ( one on paternal one on maternal side) as well as my grandmother is from Wales.I think you would see these are all great heritages to be from. No !!! I don't have a Wales card but I am still Welsh. But I think people just want someplace to have come from and belong. But I think if you think about it very hard( and you have read Genesis) we are all from the same heritage in the beginning and thats where all of us belong, no matter what you think or believe your heritage to be,we are descendants from Adam and Eve.and Adam(man) was created in the image of God and Eve from Adam and so on. So if you truly want to give accurate direction this is where in the end you should find yourself. God bless you I hope you find comfort in this for those who might think they belong or dont know where they hail from. And as for people like me I might be Indian but God gave me that.amen ( sorry for the caps when first typed, new to this did not know they meant yelling)

[zenman]

I'm German, Dutch, Indian and Irish and all I have is a social insecurity card, lol!

[Notmywil]

I am so happy to see these words in print! There are so many of us who are disconnected (not of our own choosing) from our Native American roots. My great grandfather was full-blooded Cherokee. Can I prove this? Of course not. My great-grandfather's name was Sizemore. I wish so much that I could reconnect........I wish I could "meet" my relatives and learn of Native American ways.

I have a longing for the spiritual understanding of my ancestors. Even in the simple ways, I have the desire to have my feet on Mother Earth instead of the asphalt and concrete of my everyday life and to feel the wind on my face and connection with nature.

I wish I had known enough to understand a uniquely different spiritual "experience" I had when I was only 19. My mother was buried the day before my first child was born. For about 6 mos. after that, I felt a "presence" with me 24/7. "It" was in every room I entered in my home and was even in my car with me when I drove. I didn't understand it. I wasn't on any medication or drugs of any kind whatsoever. Because I didn't understand it, I was very upset and it was really stressing me mentally. I dared not go to a doctor, because he would've give me a diagnosis that would've haunted me for the rest of my life. That was over 30 years ago & I am happy to report that I am as "normal" as anyone else (what is "normal" anyway?)

As a nurse, I have been fascinated by the books by Lewis Mel-Madrona COYOTE HEALING, COYOTE MEDICINE, etc. I have always felt there was a part of "me" that was missing--that spiritual connection that my Native American ancestors so clearly embraced.

[zenman]

You might also like the books by Alberto Villoldo.