How do I find my Indian Heritage?

[Ajga Dfjga]

My family and I are natives of Oklahoma. I know my fathers Social Security # and full name, and my mother's full name and place of birth. I am a 20 year old orphan and have no way to contact my family and ask any questions. I know almost for certain there is Indian blood in my family tree, but I am having so much trouble trying to figure all this out on my own. Does anyone have any ideas or anything that would help? I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

[Maxi]

You look for ancestors the same way anyone does and if you don't have parents to ask...don't forget any cousns, aunts, uncles etc http://familytimeline.webs.com/....so any records/documents you or they have you need to check out the infometion on them...for example your parents marriage certificate if you have it great if not then aa copy will be available to either purchase or check out the PRs where they got married...in the US I understand both parents names are on them, in the UK just the fathers name....you know where your mum was born and the marriage cert should tell you where your dad was born...so you look in the PRs for their baptism/christening...which should give you further proof of your grandparents , check out burial records and continue to go back like this including census returns where you are likely to find the family group living together

[marci knows best]

Prior to 1972, Social Security numbers were partially based on the state where the person received the number, This often gives you a clue as to where your father was born or grew up. For example, Oklahoma is 440-448.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/geocard.html

Order a copy of your mother's birth certificate which will give you her parent's names. Google your dad's name plus fort few numbers of his SS# to see if by chance he has died and will be in the Social Security Death index.

Look on social network sites such as Facebook or MySpace or Twitter to see if your folks have registered there.

Unfortunately there are many tribal associations in Oklahoma so researching each one will be time consuming, but might be worthwhile

OKLAHOMA http://500nations.com/tribes/tribes_state-by-state.asp
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town .
Otoe-Missouria Tribal Council .
Comanche Business Committee .
Quapaw Tribal Business Committee .
Osage Nation of Oklahoma .
Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma
Citizen Band Potawatomi Business Committee
Apache Business Committee .
Wichita & Affiliated Tribal Executive Committee .
Peoria Indian Tribe of Oklahoma .
Ponca Business Committee .
Cheyenne-Arapaho Business Committee .
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma .
Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma .
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma .
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma .
Pawnee Business Council .
Caddo Tribal Council .
Kiowa Business Committee .
Kialegee Tribal Town .
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma .
Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma .
Absentee-Shawnee Executive Committee .
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma .
Kaw Executive Council .
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma .
Kickapoo of Oklahoma Business Committee .
Delaware Executive Committee
Thiopthlocco Tribal Town .
Tonkawa Tribal Committee .
Creek Nation of Oklahoma .
Iowa of Oklahoma Business Committee
Sac and Fox of Oklahoma

FEDERALLY NON-RECOGNIZED
Cataba Tribal Association
Yuchi Tribal Organization
Natchez Nation

[wendy c]

my advice often is to pretend there is no one to ask... that way, you understand from the git go to USE RECORDS. Since both parents are gone, you need to order their death certs. Both will also have social security files (http://www.familysearch.org will have census records, once you reach persons born before 1930. They are free, but don't have ALL census...ancestry.com does have all of them. It isn't free but your local library often offers it through their subscription.
Once you have great grandparents (using above route), if they were living in 1907, they may show up on tribal rolls. They may NOT have enrolled, even if entitled to. However, depending on where they are in the census..and seeing if they resided in OK before 1900, you probably are on the right track. Not everyone in OK pre statehood were Natives.. I have lines there in the 1880s who came up from Texas (missionary related).
One site is http://www.rootsweb.com, which has a tutorial on their front page. Strongly advise you to browse this, as it goes into more depth on what you can use.