I'll give you an example, maybe you'll get it.
Y'all know I'm part Native American because I told you. Had I never said anything about it, you wouldn't know. The average person that I meet has no idea that I'm Native, they don't know I have a tribal identity, they don't know I have a federal roll number. Looking at me some might wonder if I'm "mixed", and I used to get asked that when I was a kid and in college but not so much these days.
I only speak on it when I feel the need to, like back on the IC when a lot of b.s. about Natives was being thrown about and when I spoke on it, my credibility to speak on those things came into question.
I'm not hiding who/what I am; I simply "am". I speak on it when I feel it's necessary, but past that I don't.