why blood quantum is problematic

Their hope was that eventually we would have children with other races and no longer have enough indigenous blood to have a tribe. L k}du| vq qD~ m>?(83Uuz6_O@_ UKv 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. It's an extremely progressive and interesting move, and they're really changing the game. Although the federal governments use of blood quantum limits the number of Natives who have access to certain federal benefits, tribes currently have the right to determine their own tribal membership requirements. Are the clans recognized as their own tribes or each clan recognized as its own entity in a tribe ? Creative discussions are happening across Indian Country on ways to incorporate traditional ideas about reciprocity and kinship into membership. Historical use of blood quantum use led to frequent violations of Indigenous sovereignty and erasure of Native identity, including being used to limit social mobility and sustain structural violence. Native tribes also generally accepted mixed-race individuals into Native societies with few hesitations. It only exists until we do not. 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. If you've got 25 percent of Navajo blood according to that tribe's blood quantum standards and you have children with someone who has a lower blood quantum, those kids won't be able to enroll. None? What is blood quantum, and why is it controversial? . The conduct of the federal government influenced Seminole Nation to act to exclude Freedmen from its usage plan. For instance, for the Cherokee Nation, membership was generally determined by kinship affiliations to one of the nations clans. The fundamental tenet of kinship was reciprocityreciprocal duty to one another, to your people, your clan, your longhouse. 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. However, when it came to questions of citizenship, the courts were quick to categorize mixed Native Americans as Indian. Instead, it served a political purposethe promotion of American Indians right of self-determination. Although it seems contradictory, equal protection law allows the use of blood quantum to give preferential treatment to members of American Indian tribes. The CDIB specifies an individuals blood quantum. This measurement can affect a persons tribal identity and ability to become a federal member. I posted this in r/latestagecapitalism but I think it got deleted since I said blood and thats a safe space. What dangers are posed when tribes and the federal government continue to define what it means to be Native American? By the Cherokee Nations election of 1983, however, citizens were required to have a CDIB based on the Dawes Rolls Cherokee by blood listings. This is because if they let too many people enroll, they risk losing federal recognition and tribal property. Blood Quantum was used by the former apartheid govt in SouthAfrica and the Nazi regime. Join Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/roomfordebate. Here's my interview with Elizabeth Rule, edited and condensed for clarity. To ensure that only Real Natives are enrolled in tribes. why blood quantum is problematic. Its a big issue especially for tribes that have many bands, like Ojibwe. When I tell my students this, they assume I loved rebuttals for the intellectual one-upmanship. So that over time, Indians would literally breed themselves out and rid the federal government of their legal duties to uphold treaty obligations. A consequential piece of federal legislation in which blood quantum was particularly relevant was the General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act. We are a fully remote workplace. Through the Dawes Act, the federal government sought to civilize Native Americans by stripping them of tribal ways of life in favor of self-sufficient farming. Theyll know about it for sure because the tribes history is part of their history. The reasons are as follows: first, blood quantum Search Query Show Search. Many tribes use a 25% blood quantum standard. Unfortunately, that is exactly what transpired in the Freedmens case against the Cherokee Nation. 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. Blood quantum appears as a fraction and is calculated based on an individuals family tree. Similarly, tribes that have land tend to be more exclusive than tribes that do not. Copyright The Dawes Rolls also separated those with true Indian blood from Black Indians, or Freedmen[3], even though many Freedmen were also Indigenous. Its the percentage of how native a person is. Native Governance Center held a virtual event on blood quantum, Blood Quantum and Sovereignty, in March 2022. And theyre right [], In Against Prosecutors, Bennett Capers proposes that we largely abandon the current system of public prosecutions and return to private prosecutions. Their policy New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The distinction between the racial and political use of blood quantum rules and its connection to sovereignty offer an important backdrop to the Cherokee Nations actions against the Freedmen. Our tribal community politics is such that if youre less than one-quarter blood quantum, youre dead to many people in the tribal community. I was once told by a indigenous historian that blood quantum was created by colonizers with the end goal of eliminating natives for good. 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. Uf9ue4_gpfwzzSumK{ ]`j{=tU\;Jq~tWcK#Nps4%Z2xu$ 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. 2023 St. Croix requires a 50% blood quantum to be considered for enrollment. As if the rest of us are responsible for the horrors that our nation was put through and the fact that we are the results of generations of survival. And so there's a desire to build up tribes' numbers and capacity in order to survive and perpetuate the tribe. It was not meant to last - it was meant to eliminate us. I would argue that in this regard, tribes were influenced by European-Americans to at least some degree. This explains why, for example, biracial people who are Black and White have historically been viewed as Black instead of White. The information shared above about the question, 1.Blood Quantum and the White Gatekeeping of Native American , 2.Some Native Americans Fear Blood Quantum is Formula for Paper , 3.Blood Quantum and The Freedmen Controversy: The Implications , 4.Blood Quantum and its role in Native Identity, 5.Real Indians and Fake Indians The Wellian Magazine , TOP 9 why blood quantum is problematic BEST and NEWEST, TOP 8 why blood is dark red BEST and NEWEST, TOP 8 why blood comes from nose BEST and NEWEST, TOP 9 why bloated during period BEST and NEWEST, TOP 8 why blind dates dont work BEST and NEWEST, TOP 9 why bless you after a sneeze BEST and NEWEST, TOP 8 why blend in when i was born to stand out BEST and NEWEST. While I was open to many possibilities, few (if any) could create blood quantum approved babies. Some tribes have zero blood quantum requirement such as the Choctaw and Cherokee Nation. What many people dont know is that blood quantum laws have been in effect for about three hundred years. Finally, opponents mention that blood quantum can strain families and relationships. Models like that of Garoutte are at odds with the reality of the postcolonial membership requirements in groups like the Cherokee Nation. There are Indian Hospitals and clinics only for use by tribal members. I'm glad my tribe is based on lineage and not percentage. The Dawes Act, passed in 1887, broke up communally-held Native lands into individual parcels, or allotments. Whats lost on most Canadian and American tribes is those of us from the East and Southeast urbanized early. This article will focus on the Cherokee Nations history with Freedmen and their descendants, but the other four nations have equally rich histories worth discussing. For example, someone with one Native parent and one non-Native parent may have one-half blood quantum. %PDF-1.5 % The adoption of non-blood individuals into clans highlights that blood quantum is foreign to traditional Cherokee practices. There are 574 federally recognized Native American Tribes without counting Alaska and Hawaii and only a handful have zero blood quantum requirement. This guide provides a non-comprehensive beginners introduction to blood quantum and its implications for sovereignty. A Progressive Facade: Comparing the U.S. and Canadas Treatment of Indigenous Peoples, Carceral Institutions in the Era of COVID-19. If tribal communities continue to uphold colonial erasure tactics, it will lead to more harm and destruction of native peoples. My tribe doesn't use blood quantum for obvious reasons. They are also the tribes of first contact. Can you walk me through what specifically those personal gains look like? Prior to colonization, the linguistic and cultural identities of North America were distinct and had group-specific membership criteria. But WHY do tribes want this? Experiences like these raise questions about the meaning of indigeneity, including the use of historical blood-based classifications of people. 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. And so why do tribal governments not have to follow these agreements? Vann asked in an interview with the HPR. When Im referring to a specific tribe, I refer to the tribe by its name. In which case, what would happen, right? My body houses too much already. Other laws did not provide any definition of Indian identity, leaving it up to the courts to decide. In the Supreme Court case Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall stated that the United States was a guardian to tribes in a state of pupilage. Indigenous sovereignty was compromised as the government oversaw tribal affairs. . 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. Most of these definitions specified a particular level of blood quantum, which is the amount of Indian blood[2] a person has. Vann began her advocacy for Freedmen membership after being denied citizenship in 2001. My grandfather cut ties with his brothers after that long, loud battle. Further, some people who had no Indian ancestry managed to acquire places on the rolls through dishonest means in order to receive land allotments. { [2] Professor Capers [], In his provocative essay, Against Prosecutors,[1] Professor Bennett Capers contributed to a now-robust conversation that was on the fringes just a decade ago. And potentially, some of those incentives would be financial gain if the tribe, for example, has gaming revenue or other industries. With the Dawes Commission, blood quantum use was particularly prominent. Over 90 million of the 138 million acres originally designated as Indian territory were lost, and thousands of AIs (American Indians) were displaced.. 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. There is disagreement regarding the extent to which tribes were coerced or forced into adopting blood quantum rules, with some scholars arguing that they exhibited a great deal of agency. As a co-managed organization, we are counting on your support to help us elevate the stories of our community and pay every writer we feature. As we mentioned at the start of this guide, blood quantum is controversial, with many different arguments for and against. It is the US governments way of controlling who gets to be Native. But the tribe itself will say that they are not Cherokee enough to be considered Cherokee. ' wAF +]QOMpZrd=CubZfz 2ut}v+wl+ If you're Native American, there's a good chance that you've thought a lot about blood quantum a highly controversial measurement of the amount of "Indian blood" you have. The sad thing is if we have a child, they will be 1/32 under the limit to register with my husband's tribe despite being half Native overall. Blood quantum is a measure of the amount of Indian blood, expressed as a fraction such as one-half or one-fourth. 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. It also hoped to assimilate Indigenous people, reduce their land base, and open the rest of the land for White settlement. Online (Apr. But what the heck is a real native? Starting in the 18th century, however, settler encroachments on Native sovereignty pressured Cherokees to adopt settler practices, including slavery, to maintain some semblance of control over their economic and diplomatic affairs. These questions suggest the need to have frank conversations about the goals of particular blood quantum rules. Many Native nations currently use blood quantum to determine who can and cannot become a citizen. The Freedmen controversy highlights the importance of open community dialogue in shaping Cherokee membership. It can affect your identity, your relationships and whether or not you or your children may become a citizen of your tribe. For more discussion about the complexity of labels, see What We Want to Be Called: Indigenous Peoples Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Identity Labels. Of course, there is a desire on some individuals' part to claim an identity for affirmative-action purposes. Dr. Jill Doerfler notes, Were careful to try to help people see that citizenship is one thing, and services and entitlements, while connected to citizenship, are different. One of the questions that kept coming up is: OK, so why don't tribes just ditch these blood quantum requirements and switch to an enrollment requirement that uses lineal descent? The economic implications of this categorization were on display in the 1990s, for example, when the federal government decided to pay the Seminole tribe for land the government seized in 1823. She hopes to reclaim membership rights promised to Freedmen ancestors in Reconstruction treaties. (Please keep telling us to Trust the government, its always worked out so well for us). Just not for yourself). Just blood tests. For example, if they didnt believe someones blood quantum to be correct, theyd make a guess based on that persons physical appearance. Many Native tribes adopted the same criteria used by the federal government, leading the majority of tribes to have a blood quantum requirement. For example, some nations are lowering blood quantum requirements and/or allowing prospective citizens to count blood from other Native nations in their calculations. Questions such as how native are you, should never be asked because it is very invasive and harmful. Some states defined one drop as one-eighth of Black blood, while other states defined it as even less. That was really the underpinning of how we belonged.. 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. WebBlood Quantum is the total percentage of your blood that is tribal native due to bloodline. Using blood quantum allowed the government to turn independent nations into racialized groups, which thus enabled the government to subordinate them. 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/(. Listen Live: Classic and Contemporary Celtic, Listen Live: Cape, Coast and Islands NPR Station. Blood Quantum, as a way to ascribe Native American membership, has dire consequences. The State of the Union: Unpacking the Recent Rise in Labor Unionization, Feminism is the New F-Word Populism & Patriarchy Among Young South Korean Men, More Than a Vaccine: An Opportunity to Bridge Gaps, The Happiest and the Most Racist: Institutional Racism in Nordic Countries. Please upgrade your browser. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. 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. Those whod like to eliminate blood quantum point out that the original numbers are arbitrary. But really it's a mathematical equation. 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. 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. And that pisses me off. Others required reservation residency, ownership of land kept in a government trust, or tribal citizenship for federal recognition. On the other side, those who defend blood quantum requirements also evoke this language of survival, and they look upon those blood quantum minimums as a way to preserve an already existing closed community that's very close and usually very culturally connected. But like I said, its not a reality, Fletcher said. Spewing awesomeness all over the web! The importance of community dialogue in the development of Cherokee citizenship requirements was articulated by S. Alan Ray, a Cherokee Nation citizen in an article for the Michigan Journal of Race and Law. In late 2001, Marilyn Vann, a woman with Cherokee and Black ancestry, applied for citizenship to the Cherokee Nation. Use of blood language reentrenched paternalistic conceptions of the governments responsibility to rescue redeemable mixed-blood Natives, based on the belief that an individuals competency in managing their affairs was inhibited by the possession of more Native blood. 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. In an 1886 Reconstruction treaty between the Cherokee Nation and the United States, Freedmen were given the opportunity to define themselves as tribal citizens within six months of ratification of the treaty. In 1893, the Dawes Commission was created to enforce the provisions of the act for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogees (Creeks), and Seminole tribes. Each donation is tax-deductible, and helps us further our mission to build a community of queer & trans people of color. Anishinaabe Aki stretches multiple states and provinces and there are over 100 different bands. 5Q~)Pv8Mgg%;q={I8&]m.?HC(x%_G{mF"Yb`2o" FIGHT AGAINST THE INFILTRATION.. According to the Court, the adoption of the blood quantum rule was not racially discriminatory. FOR OUR DAUGHTER[S] . Got a Pendleton jacket as a gift and they really got our My brother got featured on the official 7/11 page rocking One of my favourite pieces I've made called "Dancer". You've used the phrase "personal gains" before to refer to some people who might've claimed Indian heritage. Shake my head. The amount a person has is measured in fractions, such as or . 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.". We couldn't do it without you. Consanguinity, meaning direct family descendance, was not exclusive in determining group membership, however. Starting in 1884, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) used Census rolls to assign blood quantum amounts to Native people. We encourage you to take action to meaningfully support Native nations in strengthening their sovereignty. And, if a parent refuses to sign necessary paperwork, their child may be unable to enroll in the future. Maya Harmon, Blood Quantum and the White Gatekeeping of Native American Identity, Calif. L. Rev. 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. Nonetheless, the words of Cherokee citizens like Darren Buzzard suggest that racism is undeniably present within the community. I didnt understand how anyone thought to control their sexual attraction in such ways. Until I moved away for college, I used fake crushes and the reality of my home life (a demanding, overworked family with only me as childcare) as cover. hb```f``g`a`Nc`@ &G@V9%ro3{Plda`RL!|F ` The act ceded millions of acres of tribal lands to the federal government by administering individual allotments. Does any other ethnicity have to enroll to be a member of their own ethnicity? What is blood quantum? 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. Its not uncommon for Native families to have some children who are enrolled and some who arent. Who Decides Who Counts as Native American? While I was having a tea party with my great granny Estuvie, my drunken great uncles argued and verbally abused my mother. And first, I want to be clear that I don't intend to speak on behalf of any specific tribes or even on behalf of my own, but I'm happy to walk you through some of those arguments that exist in support of maintaining blood quantum requirements for tribal membership. Many Native nations also had ways of granting citizenship to non-kin, such as adoption and marriage. Color Bloqs cofounders and core staff of dedicated queer & trans people of color need your help. 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. PROTECT CHEROKEE CULTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN. I try my best to avoid these discussions. Federal officials used blood quantum to decide who was entitled to specific property or benefits. 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. Safe space my ass, if you silence native voices. Although within the Dawes Act and preceding social and legal contexts, those with more Native blood often faced exclusion, gradually, federal benefits and tribal inclusion have become reserved for pure natives. The shift from dilution to preservation being advantageous may, in part, be attributed to high rates of intermarriage between Natives and other races. They blame my grandparents for making them too white. Blood, while other states defined it as even less colonial erasure tactics, will. For us ) defined one drop as one-eighth of Black blood, as! My grandparents for making them too White youre dead to many people dont know is that blood quantum rules hope... A system that the original numbers are arbitrary to count blood from Native... Into membership it as even less to a specific tribe, I refer to the Court, the adoption the... An extremely progressive and interesting move, and why is it controversial Native Governance Center a. Community politics is such that if youre less than one-quarter blood quantum and/or... Nation, membership was generally determined by kinship affiliations to one another, to people... 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