For the Cherokee and many other Indians FORMAL MEMBERSHIP (usually attested to with a little blue card) counts on two things ~ the appearance of 1 or more ancestors in the Dawes Rolls, and at least 'any', 1/4 or 1/16 Cherokee ancestry (the blood quantum) depending on which "band'.
It's up to the US Government ~ not commenters and not popular belief. http://www.tngenweb.org/tnfirst/recognized.html
It’s up to the US Government”
Isn’t it also up to the Tribe? At least to a certain extent? I know plenty of people who have joined later in life and they go to the tribe and present their case, usually in the form of documentation. I sort of thought the Tribe had the last word (of course, their discretion might be defined by the US).
Interesting body of law, for sure.
In any event, I am pretty sure that Warren has not been very involved in Cherokee activities. I doubt if she has ever even set foot in Oklahoma.
I knew personally Willard Stone a renowned Indian Artist of the Cherokee version. His son Jason took up dad’s mantle when Willard died.
He can not sell art as Indian Art, because Willard never had a roll number. I think this was something that the Clintons came up with to protect Indians.