The CDIB: blood degree "computed from lineal ancestors … on the designated base rolls" (Bureau of Indian Affairs, current form)

SUMMARY14. The CDIB: blood degree "computed from lineal ancestors … on the designated base rolls" (Bureau of Indian Affairs, current form) [Connections: Who decided who's Indian, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDThe BIA form is titled "Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaska Native Blood." It is requested from the "BIA AGENCY FROM WHOM YOU RECEIVE SERVICES." It states: "Your degree of Indian blood is computed from lineal ancestors of Indian blood who were enrolled with a federally recognized Indian tribe or whose names appear on the designated base rolls," and "proof of Indian blood is required to receive Federal program services" (OMB Control #1076-0153). The BIA's ancestry guide says "Tribal enrollment is determined and set by individual Tribes, not the Bureau of Indian Affairs," and that DNA tests "will not help an individual document his or her descent from a specific Federally recognized tribe." A 2006 Federal Register notice says the BIA's proposed CDIB rule (25 CFR Part 70) drew "numerous negative comments" and was being rewritten

PATTERNThe federal blood card can only see ancestors who sit on a federal roll. If your ancestor was written onto a freedmen roll, a "colored" census line, or nothing, the CDIB math starts at zero

LENS (WW9)The blood card measures the paper, not the person; whoever wrote the base roll set your blood

OPENWhether some tribes now issue their own blood certificates instead of the BIA (some do; name them only after a fetched source)

SOURCEBIA CDIB form (PDF); BIA, Tracing American Indian and Alaska Native Ancestry; Federal Register, 13 Jan. 2006, E6-319.