California  |  Native American Law

Re: How?

To be eligible for tribal benefits, you need to be admitted as a member by the governing council. Each tribe has its own requirements (as to percentage "blood" of that tribe and other factors, sometimes including whether you reside on the reservation or not. They also have different requirements for proving your heritage. Your starting point is therefore to contact the tribe and talk to the person in change of membership.

If you are already an enrolled tribal member, you should contact the tribe's information office or whatever department sounds like it fits your problem (schooling, health, profit share from tribal enterprises, or whatever).

To the extent there are benefits available through the Bureau of Indian Affairs or other U.S. or state government sources, I think enrolling as a tribal member is still step one.