Embracing Native American Heritage?

twentyseven27
Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:41:02 +0000

As a Cherokee Tribal Member with a CDIB, I am (and have been for all my life) a recognized native american. Ninety-nine percent of the time, though, I would classify myself as Caucasian (I’m only 11/256 Native American, or about 1/25–don’t ask me where that math came from, it’s just what my CDIB says haha). I would say I’m reasonably connected to my heritage, with family reunions in Tahlequah, Oklahoma (the Cherokee capital), presentations on the Cherokee trail of tears, and volunteering at a reservation in Arizona (not Cherokee, but still). Is it wrong to identify myself as native american on college applications? I do not wish to cheat the system in any way, but I thought I would ask for some opinions. I am a junior and my dream schools would be Duke, Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, etc. Does it really make a difference?