Image by Andrew James is licensed under the Unsplash License. The book is a compilation of articles by Indigenous intellectuals examining the history and current use of blood quantum to determine tribal citizenship and why its a problem. In an interview with the HPR, Professor Matthew Fletcher, a law professor at Michigan State University and a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, said, if you ask 100 Indians to define Indians, youll get 100 separate definitions. In any case, Fletcher believes blood quantum occupies a more negative role in Indigenous communities today, citing repercussions of blood quantum use within his own tribe. How many tribes ore colonial times were pure. The reasons are as follows: first, blood quantum And, every Native nation has a different approach to defining citizenship and setting goals for the future. Natives face lower life expectancies and disproportionate poverty rates, leading to the increased rates of: 3 times the rate of type 2 diabetes-related deaths, 1.7 times the rate of suicides, and 6.5 times the rate of alcohol-related deaths compared to whites. Blood Quantum Land Laws and the Race Versus Political Identity Dilemma. Blood Quantum in the modern sense was first officially used by the BIA after the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, better known as the Indian Welfare Act. However, the Dawes Rolls commissioners only enrolled a small fraction of Native Americans. Should we wind back, you know, move away from it? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Even though they're using what a lot of people say is a "Colonialist construct"? I would argue that in this regard, tribes were influenced by European-Americans to at least some degree. The pressure to create heteronormative romantic partnerships and babies becomes unrelenting. As we mentioned at the start of this guide, blood quantum is controversial, with many different arguments for and against. In the context of developments such as urbanization, large numbers of Natives are in contact with non-Natives, increasing intermarriage rates. Its a big issue especially for tribes that have many bands, like Ojibwe. Indian Freedmen or their ancestors were formerly enslaved by Indian tribes. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. Such unresolved questions continue to plague tribes today and underscore the importance of sustained community dialogue as a starting point to acknowledge the complexities of tribal identity. Listen Live: Classic and Contemporary Celtic, Listen Live: Cape, Coast and Islands NPR Station. And so, for example, these officials would mark someone potentially as "full blood" when potentially that person was not. Since the U.S. government was giving the Seminole Nation a limited amount of money for the seized land, the Nation naturally wanted to limit the number of people who received funds. For example, if they didnt believe someones blood quantum to be correct, theyd make a guess based on that persons physical appearance. They have the final say when it comes to decisions about blood quantum and citizenship. So the quantum is a fraction of blood that is derived going back to the original enrollees of a tribe who were counted on Census rolls, and then their blood quantum was documented, and usually those original enrollees had a full blood quantum. Here's my interview with Elizabeth Rule, edited and condensed for clarity. why blood quantum is problematic The fundamental tenet of kinship was reciprocityreciprocal duty to one another, to your people, your clan, your longhouse. The governments goal was to break up tribes by encouraging individual family farming. Suddenly, I was surrounded by Indigenous students. 27 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<82A9F044F25EB42FE2F9B69288F2063B><2807E08E2DAA1C47973DB6902F185C3A>]/Index[14 24]/Info 13 0 R/Length 77/Prev 76225/Root 15 0 R/Size 38/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream More Comanche babies meant a stronger tribe, and while I was told I had this responsibility both before and after gaining tribal citizenship, Ive never seen it effect my sexual desires or actions. Russell Means explained that 40% of the natural resources are held on trust land. The use of blood quantum as a genetic cut-off point for Indian people is viewed by many as an instrument of assimilation and extermination. Overall, the right of self-determination should not be used to insulate a tribe or promote discrimination and deny an individual the equal protection of the law. In the 2006 case Marilyn Vann v. Dirk Kempthorne, regarding Cherokee Freedmen citizenship, the Cherokee Nation asserted that they could not be sued in a U.S. court because of sovereign immunity. And some tribes have extremely high blood quantums such as the Ute tribes(southern and northern) have a 5/8s blood quantum requirement. Follow us so you don't miss a thing! (Lineal descent basically means that, if your ancestors were enrolled in a tribe, you can be, too.). White settlers first imposed blood quantum in the early colonies as a way of limiting the rights of Native people. However, many tribes no longer follow these laws. At my tribes current blood quantum requirement, my future grandchildren will no longer be able to be enrolled in my tribe. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/02/09/583987261/so-what-exactly-is-blood-quantum, https://oneida-nsn.gov/dl-file.php?file=2016/03/Article-2-Blood-Quantum.pdf, https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=mhlr, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3941118/. In the present day, however, many nations and peoples voluntary use of blood quantum membership requirements complicates the story and suggests that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to indigeneity. Reservation-bound male heads of households received allotments, though in many cases a 1/4 American Indian blood quantum was used to determine who was eligible for an allotment of land. Calculating blood quantum involves dividing an individuals parents combined degree of Indian blood in half. For tribes (like mine) who hold strict requirements for citizenship, the proof of your Nativeness often starts with the fraction included on a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood. For example, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe requires members to have 14 or more blood quantum from Lower Brule. Any unallotted surplus land was sold to non-Native buyers. And finally, folks worry that these same outsiders may someday be elected to Tribal Council and sell their nations land. Vann began her advocacy for Freedmen membership after being denied citizenship in 2001. The blood quantum policy was first implemented by the federal government within tribes to limit native citizenship. However, tribes were granted the authority/ability to create their own enrollment qualifications after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Where was the term derived from? Well outline some of the most commonly-held viewpoints here. Copyright Thanks for all the info! Duh. Blood quantum. Blood Quantum is a strategy used by the government and tribes to authenticate the amount of Native blood a person has by tracing individual and group ancestry. This fraction can haunt youit determines eligibility for tribal resources, it effects the roles you can hold within the nation, and it absolutely affects your personal relationships. Blood quantum, like so many other factors, seemed an arbitrary barrier in sex concerns. And today, the ramification is that they do not have that original enrollee [in their past]. Vann also argues that Freedmen exclusion is a form of race-based discrimination that ignores their historical contributions to the Cherokee community. If you want to ensure your future children are enrolled, youre often forced to do the math early in your relationship. Webblood. Climate Driven: A deep dive into Maine's response, one county at a time; When I became a teenager, my family started requesting grand babies. Join us. Blood quantum really emerges as a way to trace race between generations of Native people starting at the turn of the 20th century. Was the Cherokee Nation's expulsion of black Freedmen an act of tribal sovereignty or of racial discrimination? Evidently, among some Indigenous groups, systems of naturalization granted non-kin groups tribal membership. Birth mom enrolled? Almost all nations around the world have incorporated their former slaves, or colonized people into their societies. WebThe term blood quantum is used to refer to the amount of Alaska Native or American Indian blood a person has. But, tribes today of course have to adapt, and blood quantum for some tribes in their view has been a way to preserve their community. Thank you for sharing your powerful words. Consanguinity, meaning direct family descendance, was not exclusive in determining group membership, however. Kids enrolled. During the Treaty Periodthe time from 18171871 when the United States had a policy of negotiating treaties with tribes as sovereign political entitiesfederal officials used the language of blood to describe Native American ancestry, specifically those who were mixed with non-Native ancestry. Sometimes this happens with a shake of his head. The federal government used this strategy to further strip Native nations of their land base. The programs that most nations run have a host of requirementsthey might be living within a certain boundary or having a certain income or age requirement, for example., Continued use of blood quantum requirements has major implications for Tribal sovereignty. Native tribes also generally accepted mixed-race individuals into Native societies with few hesitations. Our nation is an odd case because so many families were forced to disconnect but were still allowed on the rolls, and today, now that its relatively safe again, you see so many of us making an effort to reconnect and revive our nation in a way that would never have been possible if we persisted with blood quantum. Because theres only one way those fractions can go long term without forceful intervention, with or without my womb. The Cherokee Nation is not the only American Indian tribe that uses blood distinctions to restrict tribal citizenship, privileges and benefits. And potentially, some of those incentives would be financial gain if the tribe, for example, has gaming revenue or other industries. She's an amazing scholar. Why is it important? "The systems are so complicated," she explains, "but it's all part of tribes deciding on their own terms, in their own ways, utilizing their own sovereignty [to decide] what approach is best for them.". Can you get COVID and the flu at the same time? Kids enrolled. Can you walk me through what specifically those personal gains look like? Theyll know about it for sure because the tribes history is part of their history. It was so uncontrollable that occasionally perceptive people could recognize these desires in me whether I wished them to or not. Some Freedmen pushed back on this exclusion, including Marilyn Vann, a descendant of the Cherokee Freedmen and President of the Descendants of the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes. My first memory of having blood quantum problems happened when I was four. For example, when we have children, our biological features are not split in half. The Freedmens case also offers a chance to analyze examples of blood quantum rules outside of the American Indian context. 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