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@Toastie What frustrates me about the whole thing is, my native heritage is denied to me. My mom is native-presenting enough that she's been the target of racism in the workplace. I've seen her come home in tears from it, and she's been forced out of at least one job as a result. But on more than one occasion, I've spoken up about my native heritage and I've been told it isn't real, that because I'm white-presenting and don't have roll papers, I don't count. It's an important part of my identity, but strangers think it's fine to tell me that it's made up "romantic" BS, when I know that it isn't. I understand that tribes don't want to accept me as a citizen if I can't prove my heritage, and I can't blame them, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. It's very painful to me to have this part of myself denied, not just in formal records, but in my every day life.