Their policy of blood quantum eliminated us politically. I also want to emphasize that it is the tribe's sovereign right to determine their own membership and whether that involves a blood quantum minimum or lineal descent system. For example my tribe, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, has a blood quantum requirement of 1/16 as well as being able to prove thru birth/death certificates that the applicant is a direct descendant of a tribal member that is on the 1924 Census Rolls. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. 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. (Well say more about why the amounts were usually incorrect later.) At the time, the federal government required persons to Should we wind back, you know, move away from it? Color Bloqs cofounders and core staff of dedicated queer & trans people of color need your help. It also hoped to assimilate Indigenous people, reduce their land base, and open the rest of the land for White settlement. As we explored blood quantum in this week's episode, we thought a primer of what, exactly, this system is and how it works or doesn't might be useful. Tallbear insinuated the East Coast tribes were native because of large wooden beads, her idea of fake womens clothing designs and not seeming indigenous because they dont maintain her idea of native culture. Native girls spend their lunches adding up blood quantum fractions, trying to figure out whether any babies will make the requirements for their tribe or their new boyfriends tribe. Kids enrolled. Easypeasy. 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. Some states defined one drop as one-eighth of Black blood, while other states defined it as even less. These amounts, often incorrect, continue to affect blood quantum determinations. In contrast to Native American racial identity, which has typically required a large amount of Indian blood in order to be considered Indigenous, people have been considered Black throughout history if they had even the smallest percentage of African blood, a phenomenon called the one-drop rule. The one-drop rule was intertwined with the rule of hypodescent, which is when a mixed-race person is classified as the less socially dominant race of their parents. 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. The definitions of Indian are inconsistent because the government is constantly reshaping those definitions in order to fit its aims. There wasnt a single self identified queer in our town and suspected ones found regular beatings a part of their life. Unfortunately, that is exactly what transpired in the Freedmens case against the Cherokee Nation. The framework through which federal benefits are allocated to Indigenous communities is inherently paternalistic, which helps contextualize the erasive history of blood quantum. My first memory of having blood quantum problems happened when I was four. My body houses too much already. While I was open to many possibilities, few (if any) could create blood quantum approved babies. By contrast, many tribes and nations do not include blood quantum as part of their own enrollment criteria. A person's blood quantum is defined as the fraction of their ancestors, out of their total ancestors, who are documented as full-blood Native Americans. They have the final say when it comes to decisions about blood quantum and citizenship. Blood Quantum and the White Gatekeeping of Native American Identity, Some Native Americans Fear Blood Quantum is Formula for Paper Genocide, Blood quantum influences Native American identity, Beyond Blood Quantum: The Legal and Political Implications of Expanding Tribal Enrollment, Jill Doerfler: Defining Citizenship: Blood Quantum vs. Descendancy. Its a big issue especially for tribes that have many bands, like Ojibwe. And because fractions factor so little into everyones sexual attraction. Natives have to carry a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB, issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs). They are also the tribes of first contact. This effectively excluded Freedmen because they were not recognized as members of Seminole Nation until 1866. Its very important that Native nations consider their power as sovereign nations and their ability to write their own laws and to self-govern., Gabe Galanda sums it up well: Anyone who cares about this country, loves this country, and respects and honors the history of this countrywhether thats an ugly history, a beautiful history, or a combination of bothshould want the Indigenous peoples of these lands to exist in perpetuity. The employment of sovereign immunity by the Cherokee Nation in the 2006 lawsuit reflects a broader discussion about the tension that can arise between tribal sovereignty and Western liberal ideals. 37 0 obj <>stream Native people of their land, evade the United States treaty-obligated responsibilities, and significantly reduce Native nations membership. If mixed-race Black and Native people were categorized as Black, they were not entitled to the same benefits as full-blooded Native people. All rights reserved. Native Governance Center, Blood Quantum and Sovereignty Event Recording. What many people dont know is that blood quantum laws have been in effect for about three hundred years. She's a doctoral candidate at Brown University who specializes in Native American studies, and also a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. If someone was Black and Native American, they were Black (unless they were seeking U.S. citizenship), no matter how much Native American blood they had. (Lineal descent basically means that, if your ancestors were enrolled in a tribe, you can be, too.). The conversation around blood quantum is continuously evolving. I have heard of one example in Canada, where a First Nation has decided to open enrollment to people who have no Indian ancestry at all. Should it be? NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 9 or earlier. There is no space for another being to fill, even short term. The federal government, and specifically the Department of the Interior, issues what is called a "Certified Degree of Indian Blood," and that is a card similar to an ID card. The Freedmen controversy highlights the importance of open community dialogue in shaping Cherokee membership. But WHY do tribes want this? Blood quantum is a colonizer idea. Suddenly, I was surrounded by Indigenous students. [1] His goal is to empower the victims of crime to make decisions currently made by public prosecutorswhether to bring charges, what the charges should be, and how the cases should be resolved. In In re Cruz, a Native American who had one-fourth African blood applied for citizenship on the basis of his part-African ancestry, but a New York federal court ruled that he was not Black and thus was not entitled to citizenship. Gabe Galanda notes, I advocate for moving away from blood quantum because I think mathematically or statistically, it is intended to eradicate each and every one of our nations or societies from existing., Opponents also mention that the federal government implemented blood quantum as a tool for genocide, removal, and erasure. When the Bureau of Indian Affairs began recording blood quantum designations in the 1880s, white settlers had the final say when it came to the numbers. Finally, some nations are incorporating knowledge of language, culture, and traditions into their citizenship requirements. Blood fractionating has been used predominantly in federal policies to manage entitlements to federal benefits. In order to federally be considered native, you have to be enrolled. Most of these definitions specified a particular level of blood quantum, which is the amount of Indian blood[2] a person has. Articles Podcast About Donate Contact. Settlers upheld their conception of a superior White race by fabricating a link between Native blood and biological inferiority. My desires had few, if any, barriers. But again, I would say that is certainly the minority of this side of the cases. But our primary identity continues to be a political one. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. A consequential piece of federal legislation in which blood quantum was particularly relevant was the General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act. ne of the frustrating elements of U.S. recognized tribal community can be summed up in two words: blood quantum. Though tribes can decide whether to use blood quantum, the BIA provides guidance on enrollment and supplies charts that tribes should use to determine the blood quantum of their members. 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. Russell Means explained that 40% of the natural resources are held on trust land. This whole thing felt much bigger than me, and that I just had a purpose, right and a meaningful purpose in this situation to help these folks through what was a really, really, really obvious wrongdoing, Velie, who spent 25 years defending the Cherokee and Seminole Freedmen in the fight for their membership rights, told the HPR. Throughout the 18th to 21st centuries, Freedmen have been active participants in Cherokee civic life, serving on the Cherokee National Council and speaking the Cherokee language. The adoption of blood quantum requirements among Indigenous Peoples has complicated the legacy of blood politics, prompting discussions about the true meaning of self-determination. a?Jy63J v!RC":7d2e(mSGVMLmkBi59!+^J,_69;r5)P%>~sr?92xogSnm(^MR!_vSS9Ek:LMxCV; |S69~k$~| PF^2|'K\iBo ?_.$`hCZlsgz)Qkg})Hh#I;j+54;\ji;wd) t|lre,>\g Dg^|d/(. Well outline some of the most commonly-held viewpoints here. Tribes use blood quantum as an enrollment tool requirement. Dr. Elizabeth Rule explains, There might be, down the line, a moment when folks are not going to be eligible for citizenship. Federal officials used blood quantum to decide who was entitled to specific property or benefits. Within these barriers of classification, come issues, specifically in the medical aspect. Over 90 million of the 138 million acres originally designated as Indian territory were lost, and thousands of AIs (American Indians) were displaced.. However, a significant number of tribes have rejected blood quantum-based ideas of Native identity and instead use lineal descent. Some tribes dont. Our tribal community politics is such that if youre less than one-quarter blood quantum, youre dead to many people in the tribal community. This is particularly evident when investigating the ways that the definitions of Indian have been inconsistent and changed throughout time. Starting in 1884, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) used Census rolls to assign blood quantum amounts to Native people. Few friends believe me when I say that I dont have an interest in having babies or finding a sexual partner. On these rolls, the Dawes Commission assumed three racial categories: freedmen, intermarried Whites, and Indians by blood. Ones racial classification dictated the size and location of their allotment: Full-blood Natives received small parcels of land while mixed-blood Natives received larger, better tracts of land. Listen Live: Classic and Contemporary Celtic, Listen Live: Cape, Coast and Islands NPR Station. Any unallotted surplus land was sold to non-Native buyers. Simply Blood Quantum was created by federal governments to eradicate Indigenous peoples. Its not uncommon for Native families to have some children who are enrolled and some who arent. Their policy 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. When I became a teenager, my family started requesting grand babies. It had never worked that way for me. And, some Tribal citizens refused to sign blood quantum-related documents in protest, thereby losing their place on the Census rolls and, oftentimes, future citizenship for themselves and their descendants. Get all the latest from Sanditon on GBH Passport, How one Brookline studio helps artists with disabilities thrive. And howtribes use blood quantum varies from tribe to tribe. In 1893, the Dawes Commission was created to enforce the provisions of the act for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogees (Creeks), and Seminole tribes. The Cherokee Nation is not the only American Indian tribe that uses blood distinctions to restrict tribal citizenship, privileges and benefits. News. Although it remains to be seen whether the pendulum will swing away from the engagement with abolitionist theory that intensified in the wake of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, a [], 2022 Jorde Symposium: Frederick Douglass and the Two Constitutions: Proslavery and Antislavery, 2021 Jorde SymposiumThe Third Founding: The Rise of Multiracial Democracy and the Authoritarian Reaction Against It, 2022 Public Interest/Public Service Bar Grant Fundraising Campaign. Wayne Ducheneaux II and Sally Fineday speak with the Counter Stories team about blood quantum. The federal government also often recategorized Black Cherokees as Freedmen just because they looked phenotypically Black, even if they had originally been on the blood roles. That is the question of the century. hXM6Wj/&)|Iy&{$dy?`=} ,lZO" But what the heck is a real native? Birth mom enrolled? Consanguinity, meaning direct family descendance, was not exclusive in determining group membership, however. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. There are only 3 things the US government quantifies in blood; horses, dogs and native peoples. There are 574 federally recognized Native American Tribes without counting Alaska and Hawaii and only a handful have zero blood quantum requirement. Imposed during colonization, the concept conflicts with traditional Indigenous ideas about kinship, citizenship, and belonging. Historically, it was a measurement designed by the federal government to limit Indigenous peoples opportunities to obtain citizenship, vote, attend public schools and more. While I was having a tea party with my great granny Estuvie, my drunken great uncles argued and verbally abused my mother. For example, if the blood quantum limit is set at in tribal enrollment, and intermarriage proceeds, natives will eventually be defined out of existence. And that ensured that every person who had at least one drop would be considered black and would be covered under these discriminatory laws and, even in the earlier days, enslaved. We are more than our trauma, we dare to joy. Although allotments were denied to some people of mixed descent, the federal government accepted signatures of mixed-descent Native people in cession agreements. ), Blood quantum is not an Indigenous concept. The government hoped that using blood quantum would eventually eliminate Native peoplesthat intermarriage would dilute the amount of Indian blood in the population, causing descendants of Native peoples to become indistinguishable from the rest of the population. The governments goal was to break up tribes by encouraging individual family farming. Rose Cuison Villazor is an associate professor at Hofstra University Law School and the author of "Blood Quantum Land Laws and the Race Versus Political Identity Dilemma," published in the California Law Review. Shake my head. With the Dawes Commission, blood quantum use was particularly prominent. %%EOF Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. Models like that of Garoutte are at odds with the reality of the postcolonial membership requirements in groups like the Cherokee Nation. I would argue that in this regard, tribes were influenced by European-Americans to at least some degree. Not feeling sexual attraction toward anyone was queer enough to start fights, just like the potential proof of interest in the wrong people. Before contact with Europeans, the Cherokee used a form of captive-taking that was neither transgenerational nor permanent. L k}du| vq qD~ m>?(83Uuz6_O@_ UKv Their hope was that eventually we would have children with other races and no longer have enough indigenous blood to have a tribe. Jon Velie, the attorney representing the Freedmen in the 2017 lawsuit, reacted in a similar way. Search Query Show Search. With your support, GBH will continue to innovate, inspire and connect through reporting you value that meets todays moments. Questions such as how native are you, should never be asked because it is very invasive and harmful. How did people know that those original enrollees had "full blood quantum"? And again, I think it's helpful to understand the way that blood quantum works through another example that people may be more familiar with and that's the "one drop rule.". endstream endobj 15 0 obj <> endobj 16 0 obj <> endobj 17 0 obj <>stream Finally, opponents mention that blood quantum can strain families and relationships. The Navajo Nation requires a minimum of 25 percent "Navajo blood," and Turtle Mountain requires a minimum of 25 percent of any Indian blood, as long as its in combination with some Turtle Mountain. Even having the necessary parts, they refuse to be used in such manner. Safe space my ass, if you silence native voices. Calculating blood quantum involves dividing an individuals parents combined degree of Indian blood in half. In theory, every single tribe can choose the methodology they use to qualify people for enrollment. But it does happen and I just want to point it out again to show that there are difficulties on both sides and that there's not a clear-cut answer yet. However, when it came to questions of citizenship, the courts were quick to categorize mixed Native Americans as Indian. I was once told by a indigenous historian that blood quantum was created by colonizers with the end goal of eliminating natives for good. Some tribes have zero blood quantum requirement such as the Choctaw and Cherokee Nation. Many Native nations, including the Navajo Nation and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, still use it as part of their citizenship requirements. When Im referring to a specific tribe, I refer to the tribe by its name. But because Whiteness was seen as an empty racial and cultural category, if someone was White and Indian, they were Indian. Blood quantum. Others see disregard for blood quantum as a way to build up a nations numbers for the sake of survival. Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. Just like blood quantum. Was the Cherokee Nation's expulsion of black Freedmen an act of tribal sovereignty or of racial discrimination? (Please keep telling us to Trust the government, its always worked out so well for us). Or do they promote a legitimate political and non-racial purpose? Sometimes this happens with a shake of his head. The Seminole Nation created a usage plan that said only Seminoles descended from members of the Nation as it existed in 1823 were eligible for the funds. And how tribes use blood quantum varies from tribe to tribe. Blood Quantum Land Laws and the Race Versus Political Identity Dilemma. I try my best to avoid these discussions. She enjoys reading, painting, sewing, and traveling. The federal government acquired the remaining lands by forming agreements with the tribes in which tribes would cede land for non-Native settlement. Many Native nations, including the Navajo Nation 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. To receive land, members of the tribes were required to register on tribal rolls known as the Dawes Rolls. TOP 9 why blood quantum is problematic BEST and NEWEST You are wondering about the question why blood quantum is problematic but currently there is no answer, so let Blood Quantum, as a way to ascribe Native American membership, has dire consequences. 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. St. Croix requires a 50% blood quantum to be considered for enrollment. To address concerns about scarce resources, those exploring alternatives to blood quantum are also emphasizing the importance of differentiating between citizenship and qualification for benefits. In part due to the influence of European-Americans, some Native American tribes, such as the Cherokee[4] and Seminole, have sought to exclude Freedmen and/or Black Native people from tribal citizenship and benefits. Its not possible to actually calculate the amount of Native blood someone has. And today, the ramification is that they do not have that original enrollee [in their past]. In 1912, Congress conditioned funding and membership for some tribes on blood quantum, limiting its obligations to only those tribes and individuals it deemed to have enough Indigenous blood. The federal government used blood quantum to deny some mixed-race Native Americans land during this time by requiring at least one-quarter Native blood to receive allotments. And there is an agency called the Indian Health Service that distributes free(for us) healthcare. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to establish legally defined racial population groups. They do not have enough blood quantum, and therefore oftentimes cannot be extended tribal membership. Open community dialogue is integral to legal and social conceptions of tribal membership that are true assertions of sovereignty. One of my biggest problems with blood quantum is even if you equate Nativeness to how much native blood you have, someone can be more Native than someone else but not be eligible for enrollment. Can you talk to me about how the concept of blood quantum came to be used for Native tribes? Also I had no idea about South Africa and the nazis. She's an amazing scholar. I My 8Generation Designed Warrior Blanket used to Small victories: My 15-year-old nephew asked my Mtis mom Canadian Sikh's recognize we live on Native Lands. FIGHT AGAINST THE INFILTRATION.. To eradicate American Indigenous peoples would be to really erase Americas history. endstream endobj startxref And that assumption was based on their appearance, on their level of cultural involvement with their community. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. But like I said, its not a reality, Fletcher said. It became socially unpalatable to exterminate Native people by violence, thus a system was devised to accomplish the final act of that ethnic cleansing. If tribal communities continue to uphold colonial erasure tactics, it will lead to more harm and destruction of native peoples. It is the US governments way of controlling who gets to be Native. h[ks) vs13Xz'k}? Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. For example, if one parent has 14 Indian blood and the other has 12, their children will have 38 blood quantum. They specifically enroll based on that tribe's quantum, not the total Indian blood of the person. 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Through which federal benefits such manner, a significant number of tribes have blood! And Sally Fineday speak with the tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship tribe, I would that... To fill, even short term if you silence Native voices an agency called the Indian Health that! Have an interest in having babies or finding a sexual partner more harm and destruction of blood! Required to register on tribal rolls known as the Dawes Commission, blood to... Other has 12, their children will have 38 blood quantum determinations endstream endobj startxref and that was. Hxm6Wj/ & ) |Iy & { $ dy? ` = } lZO. Cultural involvement with their community, listen Live: Classic and Contemporary,! Not the only American Indian tribe that uses blood distinctions to restrict citizenship... Self identified queer in our town and suspected ones found regular beatings a of... For Native families to have some children who are enrolled and some who arent to at least some degree some... 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