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According to the guidlines of the federal government, Native descent cannot be passed through adoption. You will only be elidigble for a CDIB if your bio parents were members, or descended from members, of a federally recogntized tribe.
Regardless, this is only the federal government definition of who is Indian. Most of us dismiss this as a formality. Many of the people that I interact with during cultural events do not have a CDIB-some because they belong to a tribe that is not recognized and some because the paper trail doesn't prove ancestry to the BIA's satisfaction.
If you don't care about getting any benefits, then there is no need for "proof." Being Native is about culture. Get involved in cultural events and live life as a Native, without regard to how the BIA wants to classify you.
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