Nafha- Native American Family Heritage Association (Genealogy & Anthropology) (History & Culture) 

Contact: Nafha@houseofancestry.org

Here at the house of ancestry. We proud ourselves on preserving and celebrating our many unique traditions. Our langauges, dances, and artworks, these traditions we pass on to our children and we share them with all people who desire to learn about our culture.  We host a number of special events and social gatherings yearly. 

Nafha is national  hertiage membership organization supporting conservation professionals in preserving cultural heritage by establishing and upholding professional standards, promoting research and publications, providing educational opportunities, and fostering the exchange of knowledge among conservators, allied professionals, and the public. 

To be enrolled in Nafha he or she cannot Self Identify.  Our commission do not use the daws rolls or any other colonial rolls that was establish to determine native ancestry nor heritage for federal benefits.  

Nafha  require documented lineal descent from a  American Indian or American African,  member listed , or an early 18,19, 20th-century memorial,Muster rolls,or census;  Colonial court records, Land deeds, Church records, Military records, Slave narratives, Slave breeding logs, family genealogy and genealogical charts.

Families may request specific  dna testing of a burial remains of an ancestor  from family burial grounds, Please Note: The type of clothing of jewerly may also determine a race, ethnic group or tribal connections. 

At certain times, some state governments classified persons with Negro and Native American
admixture solely as Negro or Black, largely because of racial discrimination related to slavery history.

This was prevalent in the South after Reconstruction,when white-dominated legislatures imposed legal segregation, which classified the entire population only as white or colored (Native Americans, some of whom were of mixed race, were included in the latter designation).  It related to the racial caste system of slavery before the American Civil War. Until 1870 there was no separate classification on the census for Indian. 

Segregated South

In the South's segregated society, many people of Negro and Native American descent who were either biracial or multiracial were largely classified as black, even though they identified culturally as Native American.

The result negatively affected many individuals with mixed Negro and Native American descent. Because there are few reservations in the South, such individuals needed to provide evidence of ancestry to be enrolled in a tribe.

The changes in historic records erased their documentation of continuity of identity as Indian. During the early years of slavery, some Native Americans and Negroes, African, Asians intermarried because they were enslaved at the same time and shared a common experience of enslavement.

Others made unions before slavery became institutionalized,as they worked together.

Cemetery Project

The primary purpose and mission of the Cultural Preservation Office is to ensure the protection and preservation of valued historic and cultural resources of Nafha. One aspect of our Cultural Preservation  is to conduct documentation and preservation projects necessary for sustaining and integrated culture. With this in mind, one project of the Nafha Cultural Preservation is designed to document and preserve our cultural resources.

Nafha Cemetery Project of the Cultural Preservation  provides cleaning for family cemeteries that have been neglected or abandoned while documenting them for the protection and preservation of these sacred places.  Native citizens that have family cemeteries that are overgrown may request and application for cleanup from the Cultural Preservation Office. The Cultural Preservation Office documents the cemeteries using photographs and Global Positioning System (GPS).