Hi,

I have an almost 2.5 year old adopted DD.  She is 2/3rds Native American and I am beginning the process of registering her with her tribe.  I would like to weave her history into her life and I’m not sure where to start.  I’d love to talk to an adoptee who was adopted into a non-native home as I want to be able to give my daughter enough understanding so that as she grows up she can decide what cultural attributes are important to her.

As a side note, I did discuss the importance of her heritage with both her birth mother and father.  Her birth mother didn’t want any special attention given to the matter.  Her birth father, however, was very proud of his heritage and wanted this to be apart of my DD’s story.  I have since lost all contact with the birth father, and only communicate with her birth mom through letters. 

I’d love any feedback or direction.  Thanks!

While I can’t help directly on the adoption portion (my DH and I are looking to adopt and neither of us were adopted), have you looked into cultural resources from her tribe?  There are some tribes near where I live that offer classes on their heritage and language as part of the school program, perhaps the tribe might be able to offer some materials or even allow you and/or her to “sit in” on some classes when she is of age.  You might even find some help with others in the tribe who can teach you aspects of the culture, such as their stories of creation and such.  While Native American history was oral and not written, there are now books that tell the major sotries for many tribes.  Maybe start with those, and reading them to her. 

I applaud your effort to bring her culture into her life and yours and wish you much luck!